Samain Night
by Lindelas
Summary: Halloween becomes a bit more scary for Riley Poole than he ever imagined it could be.
1. Chapter 1

_AN/ This was the first NT story I wrote. Its also the first fanfic I ever finished As a result, in my opinion, it is full of flaws! I'm actually not very happy with it (did I mention I'm my own worst critic?) but there are some parts that hopefully everyone will find amusing. If nothing else, I guess it can be read for comparative purposes. I'm still honing my relative writing skills, and I probably will be still ten years from now! :P_

_Thanks to Raina/Aimme for being my beta and urging me to post my work (even if it isn't all that it should be) You are a good friend, and an inspiration, mellon nin! _

Riley's POV

Sometimes you do things because you want to, and then, sometimes, you just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I found that out as I was walking to Ben and Abigail's house for dinner three days before Halloween.

Normally, it's not my habit to walk anywhere — I own a _red Ferrari Spyder_ after all! But well, I had been sitting in front of my computer for literally days without getting out at all, and I had convinced myself the fresh air would do me good. Well, okay — actually, _Abigail_ convinced me the fresh air would do me good, which is why she invited me to dinner in the first place. I practically live with the Gates, but lately work had been a little evil so I hadn't seen them for awhile. If I had refused Abbi's invitation, she probably would have come over herself and kidnapped me, the humiliation of which I would never have gotten over... so, therefore, I walked — just to prove to Abigail that I could. It was only... *wheeze* a couple of miles... *gasp*

Ben and Abigail lived sort of on the outskirts of town, where the houses were spread farther apart. More private, nicer, old-fashioned, not to mention bigger. Just the thing for a couple of eccentric history freaks. Me, I like to be closer to civilization. But then, I'm not old enough to be nostalgic.

As I rounded a corner of the sidewalk, about half-way to Ben and Abigail's, I could see the next house through the trees. It was set back away from the street, with a tall hedge and a row of trees mostly screening it from view. There's nothing like New England trees in the fall. The red and orange leaves were everywhere, and I was having fun making them shuffle with my feet as I walked.

Suddenly, I stopped shuffling because I saw something weird. There was a car parked next to the hedge, which actually had a wooden gate set into it at one point, and crouched in front of the gate was a man, probably younger than me, and wearing all black. I know what you're thinking, "Wow, yeah Riley, really weird and all, but you really should get out more," but the guy was talking in whispers to something behind the gate and looking around furtively like he didn't want anyone to see him. That's kind of weird, you have to admit. He hadn't seen me because I was standing at the corner of the hedge out of sight.

I concentrated on looking through the thick hedge to try to get a glimpse of whomever he was talking to, wishing I had Superman's x-ray vision. I couldn't see much, but the whole situation was feeling kind of creepy. I was about to come around the hedge and scare the guy out of his shoes by yelling "trick or treat!" or something of that nature when he suddenly stood up, reached over the gate, which was about waist-high, and came back over holding a struggling little boy about three- or four-years-old. The guy had his hand over the kid's mouth and was about to shove him into the car!

"Hey!" I yelled, my adrenaline finally kicking in as I stepped into sight. "What do you think you're doing!?" Like he was going to say, "Oh, I'm just kidnapping this kid. Do you mind?" Well, what can I say? It all happened rather fast and I hadn't had time to come up with anything clever. I just knew I had to do something.

Unfortunately though, I found out that vicious kidnappers, at least part of the time, prepare themselves for things like scrawny computer geeks leaping out of hedges at them. Still holding the kid, the man reached behind him and pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at my chest.

"Get in the car. Front passenger side. Now!" the man ordered.

Heart pounding in my ears, I looked around. There was no one in sight. I mean, this was a quiet part of town and it was going on 7:00 in the evening, but still, you'd have thought there would be someone nearby...

"If you yell, or do anything stupid, I will shoot you," the man said calmly. Huh, hard to argue with something like that.

I couldn't see an immediate way out of this, so I complied. Besides, I wasn't going to leave the kid alone with that creep, and I didn't want to give him nightmares by seeing a bloody me laid out on the sidewalk either. I could only hope that someone had seen us and would go to get help.

Only after getting in the car did I discover that the heavily-tinted windows had concealed an accomplice, another man, this one maybe a few years older, but also dressed in monotonous black and, what do you know, also holding a gun. He gave me a creepy smile. "You're going to regret your interference."

"Yeah, probably," I agreed. "But you know, if no one in this world interfered, psychos like you would pretty much run things and that would be bad." If at all possible, my current plan was to annoy these guys into letting us go. Abigail does say that I can out-talk anyone -even her- which is saying something. Who knows? It might work.

The other deranged kidnapper got in the car and threw the kid in the back seat next to his friend. As soon as the child's mouth was released he set up a loud wailing, but unfortunately since we were shut in the car and driving away (at very unsafe speeds in my humble opinion) it didn't do much good. And lest I was entertaining thoughts of escape (how on earth did they know?) I was made to understand by Psycho Number 2 in the back seat that if I tried anything he would shoot the kid. So, I settled down and concentrated on watching where we were going.

"Hey Jack, blindfold this guy, will ya?" Psycho Number 1 called over the screaming of the kid. "And shut that kid up!"

Great. So much for that plan. Ah well, I could still talk them to death. "You know, it isn't safe to be unbuckled while driving." I admonished, as Jack climbed forward and tried to pull a handkerchief over my eyes. I made it very difficult for him by twisting around and facing him over the seat as I talked. "If your buddy here were to lose control, you would shoot right through the windshield. Where'd he get his license anyway? Out of a cereal box? I mean, he can hardly see over the dash board! What is he, like, twelve?"

"Shut up!" Jack yanked me by my hoodie back against the seat and pulled the blindfold tight over my eyes. I did not appreciate that, so as soon as he was preoccupied with gagging the kid, I pulled the blindfold off. I knew I was playing with fire here, but there's a part of me that just doesn't like doing what bad guys tell me to. It had gotten me into trouble before, but had not yet proven fatal. I had to make sure I wasn't losing my touch.

"I think you take the next left to get to Dairy Queen," I informed the driver helpfully.

He waved the gun in my face, still managing to stay on the road, which I thought took a certain amount of insane talent. "Jack! Take care of him!" he ground out.

Jack finished tying up the kid in the back seat, and then grabbed something out of a bag. Uh-oh. Before I could move, or come up with a smart-aleck retort, a long needle was shoved forcefully into my upper arm and something unpleasant injected into my bloodstream. Lovely. I yelped and jerked away, but the damage was done, and it was only moments before I passed out.

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

My head hurt so much when I came to that I was actually glad that there was no light when I peeked through my eyelids. That sentiment lasted all of five seconds before I began to panic at the lack of light. My breathing sped up to hyperventilation level which of course compounded the pain in my head. All in all, I was having a really sucky day... night. Whatever it was. I had completely lost track of time.

I was lying on my side on a very hard, cold floor which I suspected had made firm contact with my head not long ago. I had been relieved of my coat, which had held my glasses and cell phone, and my watch was no longer on my wrist. I groaned and tried to sit up, but my head throbbed so badly I thought I would pass out again - which wouldn't have been too bad at that point, considering how I was feeling.

My limbs felt like they were made of wood, so I rolled onto my back and just laid there with my eyes closed, trying to slow my breathing down. With my eyes shut, I could imagine that when I opened them I would be able to see and that would have made things more bearable. There's something downright depressing about waking up in the dark somewhere, after being drugged senseless, with a headache the size of Greenland!

"Is he awake?" A lispy little voice found it's way to my ears, and I doubled my effort to calm my breathing. I opened my eyes, trying to ignore the pain that caused, and hoped my eyes would adjust to the darkness.

"Don' know," another little voice spoke, this one lower and shaking. "Go see, Sophie," it urged.

"I guess I could…" the first voice said uncertainly.

I heard something crawl toward me and then a very small hand tentatively settled on my face. My eyes had adjusted enough so that I could dimly see the shape of a little girl with messy hair leaning over me. "Are you awake?" she whispered. "Hey, are you awake? Are you dead?"

"Yes," I groaned. "I mean, no." Geez! My brain was so foggy I couldn't think straight, much less talk. "Yes, I'm awake. No, I'm not dead." There. Got it that time.

I struggled into a sitting position, trying not to throw up. Fortunately, my head slowly cleared and the meager contents of my stomach remained in there. "Who are you?" I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"I'm Sophie. I'm six years old." The little girl informed me. "Are...are you hurt?" She sounded really concerned and scared. I needed to buck up. I had been kidnapped, drugged, and bashed on the head, but unless I was mistaken, I was now the sole protector of at least two little kids. Maybe more. For their sake I needed to shake off the desire to swallow a whole bottle of ibuprofen and sleep for a week.

"Yeah, but I'll be all right." I assured her, trying to make my voice sound not pitiful. "Where are we?" I wasn't expecting a whole lot of information from a six year old, but even knowing a little more would be helpful.

"I don't know. I think it's a basement."

Ah. That would explain the deep, cold darkness and the hard floor.

"Who else is here?" I looked around, but it really was too dark to see much beyond two feet in front of me.

"Me and my brother Luke. He's my twin. And Andrew. He came with you."

Good lord! What had I stumbled into? These lunatics had kidnapped three kids all under the age of ten! I took a deep breath. "Is there any water?" I did not like the harsh sound of my own voice, or the way my tongue felt big and clumsy in my mouth.

"I'll get you some. And we have blankies over here, if you're cold," Sophie invited. I was cold; in fact, without my coat and sweatshirt I had begun to shiver almost uncontrollably in the last few minutes and I knew it was only partially because of the cold. Drugs do weird things to you, trust me.

I followed Sophie as she crawled over to the boys who sat huddled against the wall wrapped in blankets. Even in the dark I could tell they were scared. Sophie handed me a blanket and a big Aquafina type bottle and I drank a little bit. The water helped a lot. I felt like I might live now.

"You tan sit hew," Andrew said quietly, motioning beside him and Luke. Translation: 'You can sit here.' Man, these kids were young! So young that Andrew wasn't even pronouncing his 'c's and 'r's for goodness sake! I snuggled up next to them, hoping I could keep anything bad from happening to them. _'Real good start on that, Riley,'_ I thought sarcastically.

"What's your name?" Luke asked, scooting closer.

"Riley," I said.

"I want my mommy, Wiley," Andrew said quietly. I could hear tears in his voice. "I'm scared of the dark." Hmm... what would Abbi do?

I picked him up and sat him on my lap. Sophie and Luke snuggled closer to me on either side. We must have looked pretty pathetic, but Andrew wasn't the only one who wanted his mommy, thank you very much.

"Hey, it's ok," I said. "Don't be scared. It's ok." What a joke. Well, as soon as my brain stopped trying to pound its way out of my skull, and the kids calmed down a little, I was going to look for a way out.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben's POV

"What time did you tell him dinner was?" I asked Abigail. It was going on 8:30, and dinner had long since gotten cold.

"Between 6:30 and 7:00. I gave him half an hour of leeway." Abigail growled irritably. "And now it's cold. When he gets here I'm going to-"

"What if something happened?"

"Oh Ben, you worry too much! You know how Riley is. Besides, he _said_ he was going to walk." Abigail rolled her eyes and started doing dishes, clearly skeptical of the idea of Riley walking anywhere.

"He's not answering his cell phone, Abigail," I pointed out.

"There are a number of places he could be without his phone," Abigail countered.

"Like…?"

"The shower."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure he got it water-proofed." Ok, so probably not, but it did sound like something Riley would do - if he thought of it.

"Uh-huh." Abigail wasn't convinced. "Try his phone again, and if he doesn't answer, go get him."

"Abigail, he's an adult. I'm not going to 'go and get him.' If he's too busy, we'll make it another night."

Abigail turned around from the sink, an astonished look on her face. "Riley's an adult?! Since when?"

I rolled my eyes and dialed Riley's phone again. Voicemail. I had already left two, so I just hung up. "He's not picking up."

Abigail smacked the side of the sink. "Fine. We're going to get him. If he spends anymore time shut up in his house, he's going to make himself sick!" she said.

I grinned. "You're worried too."

"I am not worried!" Abigail argued. "I'm mad! He said he'd come to dinner and he didn't, so I'm going to sabotage his stupid laptop!" She finished the dishes vehemently and grabbed her coat and gloves off the hook. Despite what she said, I could tell she was at least a little worried. Riley was like a younger brother to both of us and we tended to watch out for him a little more than he appreciated half the time.

I grabbed my jacket and followed her to our dark blue Lexus. She climbed into the driver's seat and started it. Fine. Let her get it out of her system. "Drive on, Jeeves," I said in my best British accent.

Riley lived about three miles away, closer to town. As Abigail drove, I watched the dark sidewalks for Riley. I didn't really think I'd see him. He had probably fallen asleep at his computer or something. Heaven help the kid if Abigail got a hold of him then!

"Is that sirens?" Abigail asked with a puzzled frown.

"Hmm... they probably think you stole something important," I couldn't resist teasing. The sound of sirens was nothing new to us unfortunately. We had been chased by more police cars than most people ever do in their entire lives without actually going to prison.

"Shut up, Ben. It sounds like a lot of them."

Sure enough, as we turned a corner, there were at least three police cars parked in front of a house with a tall hedge, lights flashing. Abigail pulled over on the other side of the street. It probably didn't have anything to do with Riley, but this was the route he would have taken to walk to our house.

We got out and approached the nearest officer. There were other people around looking on from a safe distance, but Abigail and I walked right up. I guess you could say we were a bit more brazen than most people. It comes out of stealing the Declaration of Independence and kidnapping the President and things like that. Getting away with it too, I might add. Tends to make a person rather shameless.

"Excuse me," Abigail said, drawing the officer's attention. He didn't seem to be doing much more than crowd control anyway. "Officer, what's going on?"

The man turned and explained. "There's a little boy missing. We think it was a kidnapping."

Abigail gasped.

"When?" I asked.

"His mother noticed he was gone about an hour and a half ago when she tried to call him in for dinner. Apparently he had been playing outside here. So far, we haven't found anyone who saw anything suspicious."

"What makes you think it was kidnapping?" Abigail asked. "Couldn't he just be hiding?"

The man looked uncomfortable. "We've made an extensive search. But to tell the truth, he's the third kid to go missing in the last week. The other two were from the other side of the city. We haven't found them yet."

I vaguely remembered seeing something about it on the news a few days ago. I couldn't imagine three little kids being taken away from their families like that. It made me sick! But there was nothing I could do right now, and I was still worried about Riley. If he had walked, he might have been here about the time...

Abigail seemed to be thinking the same thing, so we thanked the officer and got back in the car. "Ben, do you think Riley-"

"I don't know. Let's just get to his house."

When we got there, I jumped out and went to the front door. It didn't look promising - all the lights were off in the house. I rang the doorbell, and when that elicited no reply I knocked. "Riley, hey, are you there? Riley!" Abigail came back from around the house where she had been checking the back door. She handed me a key. Being the special people that we are, we knew where Riley hid his secret key, and Abigail was worried enough that she was ready to make use of that knowledge.

I unlocked the door and we walked inside, flicking on the light switch just inside the door. At this point we were both actually hoping to find Riley slumped on his computer desk sleeping, but it was looking more and more unlikely. "Riley?" I called as we looked through the house. We met back in the kitchen.

"He's not here," Abigail said.

I felt my shoulders slump. "There was a note on his computer that said 'dinner with Abbi and Ben tonight,' so he was planning on it."

"Is his car in the garage?" Abigail asked suddenly. I could have kicked myself. That was the first place we should have looked. I headed for the garage door and yanked it open, hoping the red Ferrari would be gone. My breath hissed through my teeth in dismay. It was there -Riley's pride and joy- in all its shining red glory. Riley had started to walk to our house, but had never gotten there. So where was he now?

I felt Abigail at my elbow. "I think we should tell the police," she said quietly. "He might have seen someone trying to take the child and tried to stop them."

I gritted my teeth. "In which case, since his body wasn't sprawled on the sidewalk, he could have been kidnapped as well."

"Maybe." Abigail sighed. "Let's just go talk to the police."

"Alright."

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

Riley's POV

I didn't know how much time had passed since the bozos in the car had drugged me. That had to have been about 7:00 or a little after. Why had they taken my watch? I could understand taking my cellphone, but besides my watch being really cool, they had no good reason to take it! So now I had no idea what time it was, or if it was night or day. In fact, I was starting to feel like a mushroom because I didn't know much of anything about our situation. My guess was that it was sometime in the middle of the night. This guess was based on the fact that not too long after we had all curled up together the three kids fell asleep. I remembered that age. Generally, it was really hard to stay awake _all_ night; even if your life was in the middle of a crisis.

I carefully moved the three little bundles off of me and made sure they were covered up warm, then I dragged my unwilling body to its feet. I was really, really hating the lack of light. I've always hated complete darkness anyway, and right now I needed to see my surroundings! Besides, who knew what lurked in the dark corners of this basement that I was now going to feel my way around? What sorts of things did unhinged lunatics keep in their cellars? Ugh! _'Think happy thoughts, Riley. Happy thoughts!'_

Starting on one side of the sleeping kiddies, I worked my way along the wall, which was cold concrete. Brrr...! There is nothing colder than a concrete basement in late October! Well, ok, maybe the river, when it has chunks of ice floating on it... I comforted myself with the fact that our kidnappers had left some blankets down here for us, so they probably didn't plan on freezing us to death. No, they most likely had something more sinister planned, right?

Reaching above my head I found the ceiling. Pretty standard basement ceiling. No help there. Ok, there should be a door or stairs around here somewhere...Oh cripes! I jumped and almost woke up the kids by shrieking like a girl when I bumped into a boxy something about waist high. Geez, I was high-strung!

Five minutes later I finally started breathing again and got up the courage to feel the object cautiously. It felt like a freezer. That's because, whadaya know? It was a freezer. Oh great, is this where they hide the other bodies? Then again, why would they bother? There couldn't have been much temperature difference between the inside of the freezer and this basement!

I held my breath and flipped the lid. Oh good. No bodies. There was also no food, (except some frozen peas and carrots which I was NOT going to eat) or anything useful except one of the things I needed most. The freezer was equipped with a little light when the lid was open! Score! It didn't help much, but after propping the lid open with a few bags of peas, I could actually see a little bit.

From the light of the freezer I saw we were in a basement about fifteen by twelve feet and pretty much empty except for me and the kids. There were some boxes stacked against one of the walls that I would have to investigate, but first I needed to check the door at the top of a short flight of steps. It must have been nighttime, because there was no light coming from below the door. I inspected it from top-to-bottom, but it was locked tight - from the outside. I couldn't even try to pick the lock! Not that I had a whole lot of experience with that sort of thing. Electronic security systems yes; old fashioned dead-bolts, not really. Well, that left whatever was in the boxes.

The boxes were all about medium-size and stacked clear up to the ceiling. Inside the first two boxes I found something interesting: long, black robes of some sort, kind of like monk's habits. There were some white ones too. Well ok. Weird, but not exactly useful.

I pulled down the next two boxes and then stopped. I couldn't believe it. There was a daylight window near the ceiling! It had been hidden behind the boxes, but were they really so stupid as to think I wouldn't find it? It didn't look incredibly promising, and it was kind of high up, but it was the first method of escape that had presented itself. The window was small, but it was plenty big enough for the kids, and if I squirmed, I was sure I could get my rather skinny self through as well.

Wondering how much time we had before morning, I quickly went through the remaining boxes to make sure they didn't hold anything useful. I did find a small flashlight and a few hooded sweatshirts. They would be way too big on the kids, but fashion must sometimes be sacrificed to keep from freezing to death.

Mostly what I found were books. I took a couple of them over by the freezer and read the titles. That was when I started to get really creeped out because the majority of the books were about witchcraft, pagan culture, and the supernatural. Hmm... Freaky robe things and books on witchcraft? I didn't know what to think about that, but I'm not stupid. Whatever these kids had been abducted for, it was not good. We needed to get out of here fast.

I made a staircase of sorts out of the boxes. Being full of books, they would support our weight pretty well while we squirmed through the window. I was going to have to break it, but I decided to wake the kids up and explain the plan before I did. We would have to move fast and I wanted them to be prepared.

"Hey, guys," I shook them gently. "Hey, wake up, guys!"

Luke and Sophie woke up ok, but Andrew jerked violently and started crying softly. I mentally kicked myself. Poor kid had been viciously kidnapped today and still didn't know where he was. Waking up in a dark room with a guy he didn't know very well leaning over him had to be scary. "It's ok, Andrew. It's just me - Riley. You're ok."

"Wiley... I had a... bad dweam," he snivelled. I bit my lip. What would Abbi do?

I sat him on my knee for a second and brushed the tears off his cheeks. "It's ok, Andrew. It was just a dream. It's not real." Actually, considering what I had just found in those boxes it might be real, but ignorance is bliss when you're a four-year-old kidnapp-ee. It's different when you're a twenty-seven-year-old kidnapp-ee. In that case the weight of the world falls on your shoulders and you really want to know everything that's going on so you can do something about it.

Luke and Sophie huddled closer to me, making me feel just a little bit like a mother hen - a description I wasn't too happy with, being a guy and all. Ah well, it would have made Ben and Abigail laugh. "Hey, I think I found a way out of here," I told them. "But I'm going to need you guys to be really brave. Can you do that?" Three little blond heads nodded in the dim light.

"And you have to do exactly what I tell you, and be really, really quiet, ok?" Hmm... are four- and six-year-olds capable of prolonged quiet when they're not asleep? I had my doubts.

"Otay Wiley," Andrew said. He seemed to be a bit calmer now. Sophie and Luke bobbed their heads again.

I took a deep breath. No more putting it off. "Ok guys, put these on." I produced the sweatshirts and helped to pull them over their heads. The monotonous black that these people were so fond of was going to be helpful in this case.

Sophie giggled at her brother. "You look funny, Luke!" They did look funny. Sort of like three little black penguins. I grabbed one more sweatshirt for myself and stuffed the flashlight in the pocket.

"Andrew, can you carry a water bottle?" I figured having something to do might help them stay calm. He nodded and I handed him an almost full Aquafina bottle. "Ok, Luke and Sophie, you each take a blanket. Make sure they're folded up small so you can carry them." My arms were going to stay free so I could carry kids if I needed to.

I took one of the weird robes out of a box and wrapped it snugly around my hand to protect it from the glass. Then I explained to the kids what we were going to do. "I'm going to break this window, and we're going to crawl through it. It's really important that you guys stay quiet and do what I say, ok?"

Sophie made a lip-zipping gesture and Luke put his hand over his mouth. Andrew just nodded solemnly, his eyes the size of dinner plates. People say I've got big blue eyes, but I swear, this kid's eyes were huge! I was proud of them though. None of them were crying anymore. They were just hanging on my every word, trusting me completely. It scared me! It was different than when Ben was depending on me to sabotage security cameras or something. These kids were trusting me with their lives!

When I was sure everything was ready, I climbed the boxes. They were kind of wobbly, but they held me. I brought my wrapped hand back and punched the window. My fist rebounded off the glass. Darn window was harder than it looked! I half-expected Sophie to laugh, but she didn't, bless her. Thinking Hulk-ish thoughts, I brought my hand back again. Ow! It broke this time, but it felt like I had broken more than the glass!

Hoping that the noise had gone unnoticed, I cleared the broken glass bits away from the frame. "I'm going to go through first and check things out," I told the kids who were gathered on my improvised staircase behind me. "Then I'll help you guys out, yeah?" They were getting really good at the silent nodding thing.

The window was about three feet wide and only two and a half feet tall. Usually, being a scrawny, shortish computer geek is not something I brag about, but right now, I was really glad to be small. If I had been Ben for instance, this would not have worked. I mean, he's not exactly huge, but let's just say he can beat me at arm-wrestling. And we will not even go into the question of whether Abigail can as well.

I finally kicked my way out of the window and looked around. I was in a moonlit yard, crouched against a huge, old, two-storied house rather in need of some TLC, almost completely surrounded by trees. There were no other houses that I could see and I couldn't hear any cars. Brilliant.

I crouched there for another five minutes, listening intently and figuring out the best way to go. I was really missing my watch. It seemed to be sometime past midnight, but still a ways off from morning. That was one good thing at least. I wanted to get as far away from the house as possible and then find a road or something, so I decided not to go sneaking around the house. Better just to get the kids away quick and not risk someone hearing me.

I turned around and reached down into the window. "C'mon Andrew," I whispered. He handed me his water bottle and I helped him wriggle out, with considerably less difficulty than I had faced. Sophie and Luke followed almost without a sound. So far so good.

Keeping to the darkest parts of the yard, I led the kids toward the trees. We had almost reached them when I heard a sound that completely froze me for all of five seconds. A deep, menacing barking ahead of us and to our right. Oh crap! A huge, white Samoyed came bounding through the trees and stopped a few feet away.

Two options presented themselves to my brain. Run and try to make it past the dog, which would probably tear our throats out, or get the kids back to the basement and possibly face something worse later.

I was looking for a third and less painful option when my decision was made for me by the appearance of another dog, over to our left. Actually, I'm pretty sure this one was a wolf - a domestic wolf, but a wolf nonetheless. Isn't that illegal? Oh wait, kidnapping and keeping people in basements is illegal too.

Sophie screamed and Andrew and Luke latched onto my waist in terror. So much for our quiet escape. "Get back to the basement!" I yelled over the barking of the dogs. All they needed was for me to say it and they went streaking for the window as fast as their little legs could go.

Unfortunately, their sudden movement triggered the dogs' attack mode. I turned and ran, keeping myself between the kids and the dogs. The dogs were rapidly closing the space. "Hurry!" I urged. The kids were almost to the house. "Get through the window and block it!"

I could already tell there was no way I was going to get through that window in time. I had enough trouble getting through it the first time, and if I tried it now, I would probably lose a leg before I was all the way through. The dogs were probably going to rip me apart, but at least they wouldn't get the kids.

Sophie and the boys slid through the window and I saw a box shoved over the opening. Good. I stopped and turned toward the dogs. I really hoped the kids couldn't see. This was going to be ugly, and it was going to hurt. The dogs stopped and started pacing in front of me, their eyes eerily reflecting the moonlight. Oh man! Couldn't they just maul me and be done with it?

Then I noticed something. Lights were coming on in the house behind me and I could hear voices from the other side of the house where I assumed the door was located and getting closer. I chanced a look behind me and saw the two guys who had kidnapped us earlier, and two teenagers, an athletic-looking boy and a skinny girl coming toward me. The girl called to the dogs, "Sam, Luna, hold!" The dogs sat down, but continued to watch me.

The evil henchman named Jack who had drugged me earlier actually started laughing when he saw me cornered by the dogs. It wasn't a pleasant sort of laugh either. More like something you'd expect to hear from Dr. Frankenstein - or more probably, his monster, if his monster turned into a maniacal lunatic. "Well, well, well," he said. Wow. He was about as eloquent as Frankenstein's Monster too!

"I see you found the window," the girl said with a nasty smile. Her face was pale in the moonlight, except for around her eyes which were painted dark, and her hair was unnaturally black. She was probably about eighteen.

"Yeah, and I enjoyed smashing it into a gazillion pieces, too," I retorted.

She clicked her tongue. "Shame it didn't do you any good."

"It gave me momentary feelings of deep satisfaction, which I assume is what you get from this sick game you're playing," I replied. The dogs were still eyeing me tensely, and I kept an eye on them while I talked, hoping they wouldn't decide to spring. The girl's smile melted and she started giving orders. Just to give you a clue how idiotic this whole thing was, the eighteen-year-old girl was apparently in charge.

"Jack, go down and fix the window so the kids can't get out. Ross, you help him. Nick and I will take care of Mister Escape Artist here." And then the nasty smile was back. I suppose she thought I should be intimidated by a gothic eighteen-year-old girl wearing way too much make-up? Sorry. I wasn't.

"I've heard petroleum jelly will help remove even the most stubborn eye shadow," I said helpfully. Wow, she didn't like that one. And it turned out I should have kept my mouth shut, but sometimes I'm not the brightest crayon in the box.

"You are more trouble than you're worth," the girl said with quiet menace. The teenager called Nick was moving closer to me, blocking my one remaining route of escape.

"I get that a lot."

"You've made me angry," she said.

I pretended to be crushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Next time I swing by Wal-mart, I'll buy you a chocolate bunny."

"Amy, you don't have to take this kid's mouth," Nick growled. He was really big for his age. When he wasn't playing gothic-witch-bodyguard, he was probably on the high school football team. You know, the type that enjoys stuffing guys like me into lockers.

"Excuse me, which one of us is the kid?" I asked in a miffed tone. Nevermind that he probably wouldn't have any trouble punching my face in if my mouth kept running, I was still older than him.

"Don't worry, Nick. He won't be as much trouble when Sam and Luna are done with him." So much for feminine sensitivity.

I opened my mouth, but Amy had apparently had enough verbal fencing, and pointed to me. "Sam, Luna, get him!"

The dogs launched themselves at me with a howl.

_AN// The changing viewpoints are probably somewhat confusing since they occur in the middle of the chapters. Ah well, y'all are so smart, I'm sure you'll figure it out. :) Just wait until I add Abbi's POV!_

_At this point I must apologize for my terrible villains. I'm getting better at writing bad guys since this story, I hope, but it's never been my forte. I'd much rather write brave and dashing heroes! Unfortunately, my villains often suffer for it. Not that they don't deserve it..._

_Thank you all so much for the loverly reviews! They really make my day!_


	3. Chapter 3

Riley's POV

The only thing I had to defend myself from four rows of gnashing teeth was the flashlight I had stuffed in my sweatshirt pocket. Not very effective. The wolf reached me first and despite my valiant efforts to bash his head in with my flashlight, he managed to latch onto my forearm. I gritted my teeth and jerked backwards, but the Samoyed started chewing on my ankle causing me to trip and fall.

If I thought those dogs looked scary from a standing position, I discovered they are downright terrifying when you are on the ground beneath them. I kicked and squirmed, trying to ignore the pain shooting through my two trapped limbs. I finally hit the wolf hard enough that he released my arm with a snarl, tearing his paw across my shoulder as he backed away. I kicked the Samoyed and flipped her on her back, hammering her with my other foot. She let go and I scrambled to my feet, but I had stupidly lost track of the wolf. As soon as I was up, he hit me from behind and I was back on the ground. I curled up in a ball and covered the back of my neck with my arms as his jaws snapped above me.

In case you've never had this sort of experience before, let me enlighten you. It is really hard to effectively defend yourself from two huge dogs that have been given permission to eat you. You simply don't have enough arms and legs to go around. By protecting my neck, I left my stomach partially exposed, and the Samoyed sank her teeth into my side while the wolf had my shoulders pinned. I cried out and swung a punch in the general direction of the fiery pain. My fist hit fur and iron muscle and did absolutely nothing to make her let go. The wolf almost got a bite on my head, but I blocked his snapping fangs with my hand and he seemed to enjoy chomping on that just as well. I could feel both animal's claws raking my skin through my clothes as they held me down, making these horrible sounds you'd expect to hear on a National Geographic documentary about ravenous predators. The more I kicked and squirmed, the harder they bit.

My vision started to swim and I couldn't help the pitiful sounds that escaped from my throat every time I tried to move. I figured it was only a matter of moments before one of them went for my throat again and I wouldn't be able to stop them.

"All right. That's enough. Off!" The sharp, cold words barely filtered into my consciousness as the dogs unlocked their jaws and released me, snarling in disappointment. With a sound that was way too much like a sob, I rolled onto my back, clutching my punctured hand. I didn't even want to touch the other bites because I knew they were even worse.

Through spotty vision I saw Amy and Nick leaning over me. Amy had that sick smile on her face and Nick looked pleased as well. I supposed it was too much to hope that their dogs would suddenly turn on them and find out that their masters tasted better than me.

"Get him inside," Amy ordered.

"Don't... touch me!" I gritted angrily between my teeth. My whole body hurt and I just wanted to lay still and bleed to death in peace, thank you very much. "Just l-leave me alone!" Geez I sounded pathetic, but I was having trouble caring at the moment.

Big surprise - Nick didn't listen and I was hoisted by my hoodie to my feet where I tottered uncertainly. Several places on my body were throbbing unmercifully with every pump of my heart, and I wondered just how much blood I was losing. I sank to my knees and Amy lost her patience. "Pick him up, Nick! In the house, now!"

I bet a round with the dogs would do a lot for Nick's lack of immediate cooperation. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put forth this helpful suggestion before I was unceremoniously picked up and carried into the house by the Sasquatch named Nick. How humiliating.

He dumped me on a couch that had seen better days. I could relate. Me and the couch probably had a lot in common. Of course, the couch wasn't bleeding, and as far as I could tell it wasn't whimpering in pain either, but it still looked pretty sad.

Amy stood over me with her skinny arms crossed, her stupid dark eyes looking just as scary in the light of the sparsely furnished room as they had in the dark outside. "I told you, you were too much trouble. No one insults me and gets away with it." Yeah, I get that, Miss Attitude.

I didn't even bother to retort. My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth. Oddly enough, I kind of felt sorry for her. Can you feel sorry for a person and still hope their dog eats them? She was the most disillusioned person I had met - and that's saying something. She thought that by causing pain to others she had some kind of control over them. Sad. Her highest ambition was probably World Dictator. I didn't know how to break it to her that she wouldn't get my vote.

She stood over me for a minute longer, but I gave her the silent treatment. That bugged her enough to make her leave and I shut my eyes, concentrating on going to my happy place, which was far away from here.

I wasn't allowed to quietly bleed all over the couch however, because just as I was losing my grip on the world, my pant leg was yanked up and Nick was dumping hydrogen peroxide all over the bite on my ankle. I hissed and then nearly swore because I could see that blood had dripped down all over my Converse! Then Nick (who was most certainly not going to get nominated for a medical school scholarship anytime soon) roughly pulled my sweatshirt and tee over my head and started pouring peroxide on the other bites. Dang! That hurt! I thought my jaw was going to crack from clenching it so tight. And I was sort of mad they had thought to disinfect my wounds because if I had contracted rabies, I would have made sure Nick and Amy were the first ones I bit.

I caught a glimpse of the bite on my side and that did extract a few bad words from between my teeth. I rarely swear. Ben always says that cursing is the sound of a small mind trying to express itself, and I agree. But at the moment, my mind was feeling very small and that trickle of colorful language was the only thing lending itself to my expression. The bite was really deep and bloody, and when the peroxide hit it, it bubbled and stung like you wouldn't believe. I was mildly surprised that Luna's teeth hadn't actually met with anything important in the vicinity of my stomach - other than my tender flesh, that is.

And then there was my forearm, and my hand which was a bloody mess. The wolf hadn't had enough time to do too much damage to my arm above my wrist, but his teeth had gone right through my hand, and it felt like he had managed to crack a bone or two.

When Nick was done inflicting peroxide torture on me, Amy came in with a roll of bandages and a sweatshirt that didn't have blood all over it. How considerate. They let their dogs chew on me and then patch me up. What the heck?!

Being the person I am, I can only maintain the silent treatment for so long before my mouth starts going again. Besides, the pain from the peroxide treatment had sort of jolted me awake, and now I had some things to ask Amy the Teenage Witch.

"Why are you doing this?" Whoa. I was really not doing the macho voice thing today.

"I just wanted to discourage you from trying to escape again."

I winced as she tied off the bandage on my leg. "Fine. I'm discouraged. But I mean the kids. Why did you and the other nutcases kidnap three little kids?"

"The Mother goddess demands blood this year."

Huh? Had I just heard what I just heard? I mean, if this was some kind of freakish, fantasy movie I might have expected an answer like that, but coming at me in real life it sort of left me speechless. For a second anyway.

"Come again?"

Amy wrapped up my hand, and not very well because despite her obvious delight in hurting people, my guess was that she hadn't had much first aid training. She shrugged her shoulders in dismissal. "This is the Year of Appeasement. The Mother and the spirits need human blood. It is only every nine years. As her new priestess, it is my task to procure that blood."

I'm pretty sure that if you could have stuck a thermometer in one of the still gaping holes in my skin, you would have found that my blood was running cold. My mind swung back to the books I had found in the basement. I had known at the time that something sinister was going on, but until now I hadn't realized just how sinister.

My mouth was gaping open, staring at this puny girl fiddling with a roll of bandages. She. Was. Insane. Totally unhinged!

"You...you're going to sacrifice three helpless little kids?!" I squeaked. Please, PLEASE let her start laughing and say, "Gotcha!"

"Only one of them. The others will be raised in our order." Sweet Converse, she was serious!

"Let me know how that works out," I snarled. Now that the shock of her explanation was wearing off, I was getting mad. And totally freaked out.

"It does work. I have been raised in the Order. From my birth I have been destined to be priestess of the Mother goddess," she said proudly as she finished wrapping my side. Well, that did explain her weirdness. Poor girl was brainwashed! And possibly high...

"Yeah, and the Easter Bunny recently applied for a job in Santa's workshop," I retorted, painfully pulling the new sweatshirt on. "Your keepers will be here any minute. Remain calm."

She gave me that creepy smile again and leaned close to my face. "You're cute. It's too bad you're so much trouble."

I wished the couch would eat me, and I tried to convince it to do so by backing away into the cushions as far as I could. "And you are really scary. I don't think 'Harry Potter' was the best thing for your summer reading list."

I think she was bipolar or something because I've never known anyone who can go from smiling to icy cold in two seconds flat. Before I could even move, she swung back and slapped me across the face hard enough to rattle my teeth. "Next time I won't call the dogs off!" she promised wrathfully. Well that's the last time I criticize someone's reading material.

"Nick! Bring him back downstairs!"

So without further ado, my thoroughly chewed up body was flung back into the dark basement. Why couldn't Nick gently set me on the stairs? I ask you!

I was relieved to see the kids were ok, aside from being about ten times more freaked out than before. As soon as I pulled myself off the floor they were surrounding me, asking questions and all talking at once.

"Are you ok, Riley?"

"We thought you died!"

Yeah, me too.

"Was that a weal wolf, Wiley?"

I was feeling dizzy again, so I waited until they stopped talking and then told them I was ok. I know, lying to little kids isn't very nice. But I figured telling them I got chewed on by those dogs would probably freak them out. Although, when Andrew latched onto my waist and the pressure to my punctured side nearly caused me to pass out, I almost reconsidered. I was really glad of the dark at that point, because I must have gone white as a sheet in my effort not to cry like a baby.

I don't know if Andrew let go because he felt me stiffen or if the hug was just over, but thankfully he released me and as soon as I could breathe again, I ushered the kids back to our corner where the blankets were piled. I snuggled them up and told them the story about finding the Templar Treasure. For some reason they liked the part where Ben and I were nearly blown up with the_ Charlotte_. Not a part of the story that I had enjoyed at all. But it helped them go to sleep, and that was all I cared about at the moment.

The window had been securely barred, so there would be no more escapes in that corner. Truthfully, I wasn't exactly eager to try something else just yet. Until I felt better, there wasn't much I could do but lie low and try to keep the kids calm. We had two days before Halloween which I guessed was when things would get ugly. More ugly than they were right now, that is. Before that time, I would have to think of another plan because, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but the thought of any of these cute little kids getting sacrificed in pagan ritual made me sick. Besides, if I knew Ben and Abigail, they had already had me declared missing and called out the Marines. The thought made me smile as I finally allowed myself to lose consciousness next to the sleeping kids.

_AN// Sheesh, I'm so mean to Riley. I shouldn't be-- I like him for goodness sake! You wouldn't think I could be mean to my favorite character... unless you knew me, that is. *evil grin*_

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

(Earlier in the evening)

Ben's POV

Abigail and I went back to the house where the little boy had gone missing and accosted the same officer we had talked to before. After hearing our story, he brought us into the house so that we could tell it all over again to the officer in charge of the case. He was a big guy, the kind that makes delinquent teenagers rethink their lives with a single look. He introduced himself as Detective Thomas Martin.

Abigail and I told him our suspicions about Riley. He only interrupted a couple of times to ask questions. When we were finished, he looked grave. "I don't like to be the one to tell you this, Mr. and Mrs. Gates, but since it looks like your friend has become involved, I think you have a right to know." He sat down, looking tired.

"You may have seen on the news that two other children were kidnapped last week from a park north of D.C.?" He waited for our response and we nodded.

"We believe…" he hesitated. Whatever he was trying to say did not sit well with him. I was sorely tempted to vent my impatience, and I could feel Abigail twitching beside me.

"We have reason to think that those children and the one taken today were kidnapped for... occult sacrifice."

"What!?" Abigail eloquently voiced what was running through my mind. "What do you mean occult sacrifice?"

Detective Martin looked directly at us. "About nine years ago, around Halloween, there was a young girl kidnapped from her home in Boston. Fortunately, the police recovered her safely, but her kidnappers were never apprehended. She was only six-years-old, but from what she was able to tell them, the police connected her kidnapping with serious cult activities. Now we're afraid the same group may be behind these kidnappings."

"What leads you to believe that?" Abigail asked. "Wasn't the problem taken care of then?"

"The police in Boston had insufficient evidence at the time to convict anyone and the case was closed although the suspects continued to be watched for a time," Detective Martin said regretfully. "Also, there are some significant similarities between this case with the one that happened nine years ago. For example, all the children who were taken recently have light blond hair and blue eyes and are very young. Six years and under," the detective explained. "Our research indicates that sometimes occult groups look for characteristics like that for their rituals," he sighed. "Other than that, we don't have much to go on."

It was really frightening to think of things like that going on in the 21st century in your own city. I guess I had always known that some people were that sick, but you tend to push the possibility of such things to the back burner of your mind. And now my best friend was probably involved in it.

"Do you have any idea where they could be? Is the FBI on this?" I asked, standing up and pacing the room. Something I do when I'm agitated. It drives Abigail crazy.

"We're exercising all our resources, Mr. Gates-"

"Ben," I interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

"You can call me Ben."

"Fine," he continued, a little miffed. "We're doing everything we can to get those kids back. And if your friend is involved, he's on our priority list. But you have to understand, these people have covered their tracks incredibly well... and we're running out of time."

Priority list. He made it sound like Riley was a memory note in a day planner! I liked the detective, I really did, but I wasn't going to be content to leave my best friend's life in his hands.

"What kinds of places do these creeps usually frequent?" I asked. "Where do we look?"

"Mr. Gates, this is potentially a very dangerous situation and one that needs to be left in the hands of law enforcement. I understand your concern for your friend, but the best thing you can do is go home, keep trying to get a hold of him in the off chance that he isn't involved, and leave the rest to us. I've already probably told you more than I should."

I wasn't sure if he knew he was talking to the guy who had stolen the Declaration of Independence and kidnapped the President of the United States. He probably did. I had become rather well known to D.C. law enforcement in the past few years, and not always on a popular level. But one thing he obviously did not know about me, I'm really bad about following orders where the people I care about are concerned. And Riley Poole is one of the four people I care most about in the world.

I gave him the best compliant smile I could come up with. The kind I had given Abigail the day we met and she mocked me about the Meerschaum Pipe being taken by Bigfoot. "I understand, Detective. We'll stay out of your hair. Just do me a favor and keep us posted? Abigail, you did give him our cell numbers, right?"

By the time I turned to Abigail she had stopped rolling her eyes behind my back which is what I was pretty sure she had been doing. But after favoring me with the 'incredulous raised eyebrow look' she wrote down our numbers and gave them to the officer. "Thank you for your time, Detective," she thanked him sweetly. I had heard her use that voice before - on Connor, when she told him she wanted to see the Oval Office, her accented voice dripping with good will and admiration. Oh Abigail, how I love thee.

We got back in the car with me driving this time. I headed for Riley's house for a last look just to make sure. "You know," Abigail remarked, "it's a really, really good thing he didn't know you personally, Ben. Otherwise he never would have bought that little 'compliance with authority' speech."

"Well, lying isn't really my forte." I shrugged.

"A fact I'm very happy about." Abigail smiled.

"There's no way I'm going to sit at home while Riley's missing. I had to bow out gracefully so he wouldn't get the idea I would be a problem."

"So where do we start looking?" she asked.

"The internet. I'm going to do some research on modern cult groups." The idea was incredibly distasteful to me, but knowing a bit more would hopefully give me some idea of where to look for these scumbags who had stolen three little kids and my best friend.

_AN// Lest you think that the idea of kids being kidnapped for cult sacrifice is ridiculously far out, I will tell you that the idea actually came from a real life occurance-- one of my friends was nearly kidnapped from his home around H__a__lloween time when he was three years old, and at the time poice forces were telling people to keep a close eye on their kids if they had blond hair and blue eyes! Creepy, huh?! Fortunately my friend's experience didn't go any farther that a scary 'almost'._


	4. Chapter 4

Abigail's POV

Ben was sitting at the computer deep in thought, reading an article. I had brought him a cup of coffee earlier and it was still sitting there. He hadn't touched it. I looked at the clock - it was going on 12:30. He needed to sleep. The question was: would he come willingly or would I have to unplug the computer?

"Sweetie, you really need to come to bed. We can get up early and start looking."

"Hang on. Almost done," came his muttered reply.

I sidled up behind him and read a little over his shoulder. What I read sent a shudder through me. The people who were into this sort of thing did not have a good grip on reality. I put my hand on Ben's shoulders and felt his muscles tense beneath my fingers. Even if I did manage to get him to sleep, neither of us were going to sleep well.

Ben let out a sigh and closed the article, running a hand over his face. "I think we need to look out in the countryside. Rural areas or state parks. From what I've read, most of these cults are very reverent of nature. Rituals or...sacrifices usually take place in a wooded clearing, preferably with lots of oak trees. I don't know what else to do."

"Where do you think the police will be looking?" I asked.

"I don't know. It's not like we know more than they do," he growled.

"Ben, come to bed," I pleaded. "We will find Riley. But you need to sleep or you won't be able to think straight tomorrow!"

I finally succeeded in getting him to bed, and we both tried to sleep. I kept thinking about that little bit I had read of Ben's article. It had been a historical essay on Celtic pagan religion in ancient Europe, and the origins of Halloween, also called All Hallow's Eve or Samhain. But the article had also said that there were still significant groups of people who believed in the old ways of doing things; including occasional animal and human sacrifice to appease various gods and goddesses. And sometimes, they actually got away with it.

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

In the morning we grabbed some granola bars and headed out the door. Neither of us had gotten much sleep, and we probably looked like it too.

We spent the day exploring some of the sprawling parks and wildlife preserves in and around D.C. looking for anything that might indicate the presence of a cult group. When it started to get dark and the day drew to a close, our spirits were lower than the late October temperature outside. We weren't even sure what we were looking for exactly.

Ben pulled over in a parking lot about an hour's drive from the city. He was growing increasingly agitated and I had started biting my nails. I hadn't done that since I was six! Ben shut the car off and stared into space ahead of him. "They aren't going to be hiding out where just anyone could find them!" Ben burst out in frustration. "For all we know, they've skipped the country!"

He was right. I was beginning to realize why the police were having so much trouble with this case, even with the information they had. These people could be anywhere. There were too many places to search and too little time. Like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. We needed something. Something to tell us where to look, or what to look for.

"Ben, I have an idea."

"What?" His voice was discouraged and he looked like he had a headache.

"We need to talk to the girl who was kidnapped nine years ago. Detective Martin said she was from Boston. If we could track her down, maybe she would be willing to tell us some things."

Ben didn't say anything. But I could tell he was thinking it over. After a minute, he nodded slowly. "I think you're right." He started the car.

"I'm always right," I quipped.

He looked at me, one eyebrow raised expressively. Sometimes when Ben looks at me, he doesn't have to say a word. I just know what he's thinking. Right now, he was thinking, 'Attack or retreat?' A smile slowly spread across his face, which was exactly what I wanted to get out of my tease.

"I'm not even going to argue that one," he said.

"Good. Because you would lose."

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

When we got home, Ben fired up the computer and began tracking down news articles about kidnapping cases from nine years ago in Boston. If Riley had been here, I had little doubt he could have done it faster, and probably could have gotten into locked police files if he had wanted to. But even without Riley's expertise, Ben found what we needed fairly quickly, and we caught a few hours of troubled sleep before bundling into the car and heading for Boston. We didn't have to voice what we both knew. Today was Halloween, and today might be our only chance of finding Riley and those kids before it was too late.

Between the internet and the phonebook, we found out that Rachel Philips still lived in Boston with her parents. We could only hope that she would be able and willing to tell us something useful! Thankfully, it was a Saturday, so having to wait for the girl to get out of school wasn't a problem, but there were other things that were nagging at my mind.

"Ben, what if she isn't home?"

"Then we'll find out where she is."

"What if she won't talk to us?"

He didn't have an answer for that one, but determination was evident in every line of his face.

We came into Boston mid-morning, and found the address in one of the quiet, residential areas. Ben parked on the other side of the street. The house was nice, white with green trim, but not extravagant like some of the homes in Boston.

"So, now we march up to the door and ask to speak to this fifteen-year-old girl we've never met before?" I asked skeptically.

"Um, yes," Ben said. "Do you have a better idea?"

I sighed. "Not really. I just hope she'll talk to us."

We walked up the steps and rang the door bell. A moment later the door was opened by a little boy of about nine. He looked at us expectantly.

"Uh, hi," Ben began uncertainly. "Is this the Philips' residence?"

"Yeah, but my parents aren't home, and if you're selling something, my dad doesn't like you," the child answered promptly.

An angry female voice spoke from within the house. "Jason! What have I told you about answering the door!" A tall, blond girl came into the foyer, glaring at the boy. "Go find something to do!" she said in exasperation before turning her attention to us. Her large blue eyes were friendly, but cautious. "I'm sorry. He isn't supposed to answer the door. What can I do for you?"

"Are you Rachel Philips?" I asked straightaway.

"Yes…" she answered hesitantly. "Why?"

"We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions," I said, realizing that I was doing all the talking. Ben wasn't complaining though. He actually seemed relieved.

Rachel looked a little alarmed, like she was ready to slam and lock the door in our faces if we made any sudden movements, and I quickly tried to assure her. "We don't have to come into the house or anything like that, but we think you might be able to help us with something very important."

"Who are you? I don't know you...do I?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Ben. "Wait, are you that treasure-hunter guy?"

"Ben Gates," Ben introduced himself. For once I was glad of Ben's popularity. A moment ago, Rachel had looked like she wanted to shut the door in our faces; now she looked curious, if still very cautious.

"I saw you on the news. You really found the City of Gold behind Mt. Rushmore, and a pile of treasure under Trinity Church?"

"In a nutshell. Yes." Ben smiled. "With my family."

"So... what are you doing on my doorstep? Is Blackbeard's treasure buried under my bedroom?"

Ben smiled at the girl's dry humour. I could guess why. It probably reminded him a bit of Riley. "Not that I know of, but you never know. Miss Philips, did you hear that there have been three kidnappings in Washington D.C. in the last week?" That's Ben for you. Straight to the point.

Rachel swallowed. "Yeah. I heard about that."

"One of the children was taken from our neighborhood, and my friend, Riley, went missing about the same time. We think he may have been kidnapped as well."

"I'm really sorry. But I don't see what that has to do with me." Rachel frowned.

"We learned that you were kidnapped by an occult group nine years ago. The police think it may be the same group of people that took these children," I explained.

Rachel's face paled, and I bit my lip, hoping I hadn't said too much. I felt like I was walking on eggshells.

"Look," she said, her voice shaking the smallest bit. "I don't know how you found out about that, but it's not something I like to-"

"I understand, Miss Philips, and I would never bring it up if it weren't this important, but you might be the only one who can help us find Riley." Ben didn't give her time to back away.

"I've already told the police everything I know. You should go to them."

"The police won't tell us anything," Ben said bluntly.

"Then what makes you think you can do more than them?" Rachel asked pointedly.

Ben shrugged. "I'm good at finding things. And he's my best friend. I have to try," he added quietly.

Ben has a way about him. Sometimes I think he was born in the wrong century because at heart, he's the knight that his grandfather made him when he was ten-years-old. But when he speaks that way, with such sincerity and determination, people listen, and they learn to trust him. I knew that from personal experience.

Rachel stood there, partially behind the door, her brow furrowed in a frown. Then she seemed to make up her mind and looked at us. "Why don't you come inside. It's cold out here. I'll try to help you."

"We don't want to impose on your house…" I began.

"It's ok. I'm pretty sure I can trust you. Besides, my brother will protect me." She rolled her eyes sarcastically and motioned us inside. She led us to a couch and invited us to sit down. As she sat down on an armchair in front of us, the boy who had answered the door came into the room.

"I'm telling Mom and Dad," he said with an air of superiority.

"Fine Jason. You do that. But they'll hear it from me first, so it won't do you any good." Rachel smirked. "Now go away please. I'm just going to talk to these people for a few minutes."

"You're going to be in so much trouble," Jason said with obvious delight.

"Not as much trouble as you'll be in if you don't finish raking the leaves," Rachel warned. With much muttering, the boy left the room and we heard the back door slam.

"Rachel, we don't want to get you in trouble. We can talk outside," I said again.

"No, really it's ok. My parents are a little paranoid, and with good reason, but I think they'll understand when I explain to them. We're really close."

I hoped so. I felt slightly miserable about encroaching on her privacy and bringing up something she would probably like to forget, but Rachel seemed more at ease now that she knew who we were.

"Your friend wrote 'The Templar Treasure: and Other Myths That Are True', right?" she asked.

"Yes, he did," Ben said.

Rachel smiled for the first time since we got here. "He's a good writer. I did a report on his book for school. My teachers were highly amused." Her face grew serious once more. "And you think he's been kidnapped?"

"Night before last he was supposed to come to our house for dinner," Ben explained. "But he never showed up and when we went to look for him, we found out that he was probably in the area of the kidnapping at the same time the child was taken. Riley would have tried to stop it if he could."

"So, what do you want to know?"

"Anything that you can remember about the people who abducted you or the places they took you."

Rachel sat back in her chair and frowned in thought. "I really don't remember much. I was only six. We lived in a different house at the time - a more private, out of the way area with more trees. I was playing out in the yard while my mom was making dinner and this guy came up and said he had a kitten or something in his car he wanted to show me, you know the story. Well, I stupidly went with him and he threw me in the car and drove away. I was so hysteric that he tied me up and blindfolded me as soon as he could pull over without causing a scene.

"When we got to wherever it was, I was locked in a room without windows that was mostly dark. Probably a basement. They gave me food and water once a day, and sometimes a woman would come in and talk to me. She always wore black and I remember she really scared me because of the things she said. I can't remember most of what she said now, but I do remember her telling me that they were going to kill me. Even when you're six, you don't get over something like that.

"I was with them for three days and then one of them got cold feet and dropped me off in a park outside of Salem and then high-tailed it. That's where the police found me."

The whole story came out of her mouth with a typical teenage 'no big deal' attitude, but Ben and I weren't fooled. It had obviously been a traumatic experience, and one that still frightened the girl.

"Do you remember approximately how long you were in the car?" I hated to probe, but we needed to know more.

Rachel shook her head. "I can't remember. I'm sorry."

Ben was deep in thought. "They found you in Salem?"

"Yes. But they could have brought me from anywhere. Like I said, I don't remember how long I was in the car, and I was blindfolded."

Ben stood up, doing an admirable job of hiding the disappointment and anxiety I knew he was feeling right now. We hadn't found out much that could help us find Riley. "Thank you, Miss Philips. Abigail, are you ready?"

I stood up, but Rachel stopped us. "There's one more thing," she said, a little uncertainly. "I'm not sure if it will be of any help, but... hang on a sec." She left the room and I thought I heard her running up stairs. In a moment she was back with a thin notebook in her arms. "I have a very visual memory," the girl explained. "Unfortunately, since I was blindfolded part of the time it didn't do me much good. But I do remember this." She unfolded the notebook and I caught a glimpse of brightly-colored pictures all over the pages. Even as she hastily flipped through the sheets I could see she was talented.

"You're an artist," I remarked.

"Not really. I mean, I like to draw, but I have a lot to learn." Rachel gave a self-deprecating shrug.

"Modest too," Ben said with a smile.

The girl blushed at our praise, but quickly found the page she was looking for. "All the members of the group wore this." She showed us a detailed drawing of a large oval shape with a stylistic oak tree inside. Twining up the trunk and into the branches were two snakes, twisted in what looked like an intricate knot. The snakes were a dark, dark red, and the tree was unbroken black.

Ben took the notebook and studied the picture, his eyes intent and his brow furrowed in thought. I had seen that look a hundred times if once.

"The woman that scared me so badly wore that symbol on a necklace," Rachel explained. "I think she was actually the leader or something. The men all wore rings with that on them. Does it help... at all?" she asked hopefully.

"It might," Ben said cryptically. "It might be just what we need."

Rachel tore out the page and handed it to Ben. "Here, you can keep it. I have another drawing of it somewhere. I just hope it helps you find your friend and those little kids." For a moment, I thought Rachel was going to cry, but she bit her lip and swallowed. It had to be awful for her, knowing that three children were undergoing the same thing that she had so long ago escaped. "I... I really hope you find them," she said quietly.

I resisted the urge to hug her. I really did not know her well enough for that, even though I instinctively liked her, but I gave her a reassuring smile. "We're going to do everything we can. Thank you so much for your help," I told her sincerely.

"No problem. And when you find Riley Poole, tell him he should write another book!" She gave us a rare smile as she followed us to the door.

"I'll do that," Ben promised.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN// Sorry for the long time between updates! I was visiting a friend and it didn't occur to me to update before I left. Anyhoo, this chappie is loooong, so hopefully that will make up for it_

_--_

Riley's POV

I woke up freezing cold, and feeling like my body had had an unfortunate encounter with a blender. Then I remembered that there had been two blenders - one named Luna and one named Sam. What stupid names! Shouldn't they have been called 'Fang' and 'Vicegrip' or something? I swore right then and there that I would never own anything larger than a hamster. Then again, hamsters do have teeth, right? Nothing with teeth allowed. I would just have to settle for my plushie beluga whale that Abigail had given me last summer at Seaworld. I kept it on top of my Mac at home. That was pet enough for me.

Opening my eyes, I was surprised to find that I could actually see more than a foot in front of me. That was about the only bright point in my day. Literally and figuratively. The light was coming from the window I had broken the night before that one of Amy's trained monkeys had fixed. It now had bars across it like a prison. How apropos.

Gingerly, I sat up, trying not to disturb the sleeping kids that were huddled around me on the floor. They looked pretty cute. Or at least, I assume that's what Abbi would have said. Sophie had her hand thrown over Luke's shoulder, and Andrew's face was scrunched up like he was thinking really hard in his sleep. I covered them all better, hoping they weren't as cold as I was, and wondering how they could sleep that deeply. Have you ever tried to sleep on a concrete floor with nothing but a thin blanket between you and the hard concrete? I don't recommend it. Especially if you're already sore from previous torture.

I limped over to the window and looked out. I could see the yard where I had been mauled sometime during the night, and a little bit of blue sky above, looking annoyingly cheerful. It looked like sometime in the afternoon. I groaned. I had slept the day away. I didn't know how, on that hard floor, but somehow I had. My body had definitely needed it, but I really didn't have time to lose sleeping!

I heard a noise and suddenly the Samoyed's furry white face was right in front of the window, her teeth bared in a growl. I jumped back and glared at her. "Just come a little closer and I'll find a way to tie your ears around these bars, Cujo!" I muttered. Stupid dog.

Sophie, Andrew, and Luke woke up and came to stand beside me as I looked out the window. Then of course they all wanted to know why I had blood stains all over the leg of my jeans. Oh boy. They were little, but I didn't think they'd buy the 'a ketchup bottle exploded on me' explanation.

"Did the doggie bite you, Wiley?" Andrew asked fearfully.

I ruffled his blond hair with my good hand (the other was effectively tucked up in my sweatshirt sleeve away from prying little eyes). It was interesting to actually be able to see what these kids looked like in the daylight. All of them were blond with big, blue eyes and chubby little cheeks. Luke and Sophie looked nearly identical except for hair length, but all three had a different personality and different things to love about each one.

"Yes," I answered truthfully. "The doggie bit me, but I'm ok."

"Does it hurt?" Luke asked, his eyes really wide.

Heck yeah!

"A little," I lied.

"What's gonna happen, Riley?" Sophie's little voice piped up. Her cheeks were dirty and her long, blonde hair was a mess, but she was trying to be brave.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't exactly say, 'Well Sophie, you or one of the boys is going to be brutally sacrificed in a pagan ritual by a bunch of insane maniacs tomorrow night unless Riley can come up with a plan.'

"Well, I don't really know. But I'm going to try to think of something. And the police are looking for us."

We were startled by the door being unlocked at the top of the stairs and the unwelcome sight of Nick coming down them. He was carrying a paper bag which he set on the floor. "There's food in there," he leered. "Enjoy."

"Oh, so you decided not to starve us? That's an improvement," I complimented him. "Before you know it, you'll be handing out cookie baskets to senior citizens! Keep it up, champ!"

He narrowed his eyes and came toward me. I think he had been waiting for me to make a smart comment. One of these days I might learn to keep my mouth shut. Maybe.

The next thing I knew I was craning my neck upwards, trying not to feel very small next to this punk kid who had to have been 6'2 _with_ muscle, glaring down at me. "You got any more to say?" He growled.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but you have a rather large stain on the front of your T-shirt. Girls hate that." I shrugged. Well, he asked.

Nick grabbed the front of my sweatshirt and pushed me against the wall. "How 'bout I put a stain on your face, you puny, little smart-mouth!"

"Hey, I resent that!" I choked. "How would you feel if I called you a large, dim-witted brontosaurus?" He shoved me harder against the wall. I decided to shut up for the time being, but only because I didn't have enough breath to tell him that his social skills sucked.

"Leave Riley alone!" Sophie charged forward and whacked Nick with a water bottle. Unfortunately, hitting Nick with a half-empty water bottle is about as effective as trying to detour a charging rhinoceros with a fly swatter. Sophie kept doing her best to clobber him though. It made me smile, seeing such a little kid hammering away so diligently at a bully so much bigger than herself. She might just leave a small welt if she kept it up.

I didn't realize just how deep Nick's nastiness ran until he shoved Sophie hard enough to send her sprawling against the wall. But he made the mistake of letting go of me to do it. "You creep!" I yelled. Then I swung back and hit him as hard as I could in the jaw. Ow! Guy had a jaw like a rock! There goes my other hand.

I found out he had a fist like a rock too, because as soon as his tiny, bad-guy brain caught up with the fact that I had hit him, his fist slammed into my cheekbone, and I was yet again lying on the hard floor. So, essentially, my heroic act didn't really do any good, but at least he now knew how I felt about him.

I was concerned about the birdies flying around my head until he stepped on my bad hand and that sort of drove the birdies right out of my mind.

As soon as my yelling died down to a suppressed whimper, he leaned down close. "The only reason you're alive right now is because Amy wants it. If it were up to me, I'd finish this now. She won't always protect you." He grinned.

"Yeah, she's doing a fabulous job of it," I gasped. "Could I have my hand back? _Before_ you crack any more bones, preferably." Good thing my voice is naturally somewhat whiny, otherwise I might have been troubled by the way it cracked on that last word.

After one more, totally unnecessary crunch of my poor appendage, he stomped out of the room and slammed the door. Some people just don't know how to control their tempers. You'd think my superior wit bothered him or something.

"Riley? Riley!" Luke's voice was at a higher pitch than mine had been a moment ago.

Next time I get kidnapped, I am going to do it alone, because when you have a bunch of scared kids with you, you can't just lie still after you've been mauled by dogs, had your cheekbone knocked in, and your hand squashed. My side wound was feeling painfully weird too. Kind of like a squashed banana, which probably meant that it was slowly bleeding through the bandage. I ignored it, but if Abigail had been there I would have whined, just to bug her.

I crawled one-handed over to the kids. Sophie was crying and rubbing her shoulder where it had smacked into the wall, but no bones were broken or anything. She was mostly just scared.

"Hey Sophie, it's ok. You were really brave! It's gonna be ok." I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

"I don't like that guy!" Luke seethed. "He hurt my sister!"

"Yeah, I'm not very fond of him either, Luke." I rubbed some of the blood off my cheek. Stupid jerk had actually broken the skin. I'd be lucky if my punch had even bruised him. "Andrew, can you get that bag he left over there?" I asked. I had been really hungry before my run in with Psycho Teen. Now I didn't think I could eat until my head stopped throbbing, but at least the kids could. When Andrew came back I doled out apples and some pitiful looking sandwiches. I decided to recommend cooking school to Amy when I saw her next. It would probably do a lot for her personality disorders.

The kids were hungry enough to eat the so-so food and I saved back an apple for myself later. My cheek was really sore and it must have looked horrendous. In fact, all in all, I probably looked like a truck ran over me. Felt like it, too.

While the kids ate, I wondered for the first time since being kidnapped if Ben and Abigail had even noticed I'd gone missing. It didn't seem likely that they wouldn't have noticed. We communicate at least once a week if not more, but the fact that I had missed having dinner with them yesterday might have ticked Abigail off enough for her to give me the silent treatment. She can do that you know. A heck of a lot better than I can. Ben's usually content to let me do my own thing, but Abigail is like a mother hen times five! She seems to think that staying inside my house for a week without venturing outside is bad for my health. I couldn't wait to tell her how badly my health had been damaged by following her advice.

Ben's POV

When we got back into the car, I looked at Rachel's picture again. There was something familiar about it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It was like having a word on the tip of my tongue--I could remember seeing that symbol somewhere, but I couldn't remember how long ago or what it had been about. It obviously hadn't been something I had felt important enough to store in my memory. One of those 'in one ear and out the other' things, except now, it actually mattered that I remember!

"Well?" Abigail asked excitedly.

"I've...seen this before," I said slowly, still staring at the drawing.

"Do you want to share with the rest of the class?" Abigail asked, crossing her arms.

I shook my head. "Nothing to share. I can't remember."

"What!" Her face fell in dismay. "What are we going to do?"

"Right now, we're going to go get coffee. I need to think." I started the car and headed for the Starbucks I had seen earlier as we came into town. Abigail made some comment about caffeine dulling the senses, but I studiously ignored her. I needed a quiet place to think, and other than a library, a coffee shop seemed like the best place. Besides that, I was getting really tired and caffeine sounded like just the thing I needed.

When we pulled up, the parking lot was nearly empty. I was glad of that since it would be easier to think without a lot of background noise.

I got a cup of plain black coffee with an extra shot of espresso, and Abigail ordered one of those fou-fou, chocolate-infused things (which cost upwards of four dollars) that she is so fond of. Riley likes his coffee heavily 'chocolified' as well, and I've never figured out why. Coffee should be coffee, folks, plain, simple, and unadorned.

Abigail sat down at one of the tables to sip her drink and I started to pace as I waited for a computer to free up, ignoring the looks I was getting from a few of the patrons. Abigail rolled her eyes. "Ben, is it really so difficult to think while sitting down?"

"Uh, yes."

"People are staring."

"Tell them to take a picture."

"Your coffee is going to spill."

"Well, I can afford another cup if it does," I said pointedly, trying not to lose my patience. "Abigail, you're really not helping."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I feel helpless, Ben."

"I know. So do I." I touched her shoulder gently as I made my pass. I was getting a headache. A bad one. Probably from lack of sleep and proper food. It occurred to me that I was drinking three shots of espresso on a nearly empty stomach. Not a good idea.

Absently, I scanned the books on the shelves behind the table Abigail was sitting at. I wasn't really paying attention until my eyes landed on a particular title. 'Truth Held Forth and Maintained.' I struggled with my memory for a minute before I remembered what it was about. In 1695, two years after the culmination of the Salem Witch Trials, a Quaker named Thomas Maule had written the book which sharply criticized the handling of the trials. He was imprisoned for mouthing off to the powers that be for twelve months. I shook my head. Why should that stand out to me? I had known that since... I almost spilled my coffee as the memory hit me full force.

"Abigail, I've got it!" I shouted, drawing the eyes of everyone in the shop. Abigail was no longer paying attention to their stares.

"What, what!? Tell me!" She demanded, hope sparkling in her eyes for the first time since we left Rachel's house. "You remember?"

I grabbed the blessed book off the shelf. It didn't really have much bearing on what I was about to say, but it had triggered my memory and I felt like holding it.

"The symbol that Rachel showed us is the heraldic crest of the Foster family. Ann Foster was one of the women accused in the Salem Witch trials in 1692. She was convicted and died in prison after 21 weeks."

"How does that help us?" Abigail asked. I could tell she was confused, and I didn't blame her. My mind was running ahead of my mouth and I wasn't exactly articulating very well.

"The Foster family sailed from England in 1635, when Ann would have been...15. They received a large land grant in Andover, and were a very wealthy, prominent family. The Foster Mansion has been passed down through the family. If we're looking for the same group that kidnapped Rachel nine years ago, there's a good chance that they are connected with the family. We have to look there."

Abigail shook her head, a smile blooming on her face. "How do you remember all that?"

"I almost didn't. I learned it at a summer camp in Salem when I was fourteen. We learned some very odd things at that camp - most of it inane and useless." I shrugged. "Although, we did concoct some interesting practical jokes to play on one of the counsellors."

Abigail was already rushing out the door, practically dragging me with her. In the end, I did end up spilling my coffee, but I could have cared less. I had left a pretty big tip.

We got to Andover at about 6:00 - much later than I had hoped, but we had of course managed to catch rush hour traffic. I knew approximately where the Foster mansion was located, but approximations weren't cutting it today, and in the end I had to stop and ask for directions - much to my chagrin and Abigail's amusement.

The house was smack in the middle of a vast area of forest and rural farms bordering the Merrimack River, between the present day towns of Lowell and Lawrence. I could see how someone could disappear out here. The houses were spaced far apart and usually found at the end of long, twisting drives. The road we were on was paved, but only until we came within a mile or so of the house.

We came to a tall gate about twenty yards from the house with a sign that read, 'Historical Foster Mansion: Open for tours by appointment only.' There were two cars parked in front of the garage and we could see lights on the first floor. To be honest, I wasn't sure if anyone would feel an overpowering urge to tour this place. The mansion was indeed beautifully built, and historical to be sure, but it was looking run down. There were shingles missing in various places, and it was in desperate need of a paint job.

Abigail was staring at the house with narrowed eyes. "What do we do? If Riley and the children are here, and the kidnappers get suspicious, it might prompt them to...do something rash."

"I know." I was rapidly turning ideas over in my head. Before now I hadn't had much time to think about it, and marching up to the door and demanding that they hand over my friend didn't seem like the wisest course of action. Besides, this was only a theory. A probable theory, yes, but ultimately we didn't actually know if this was where Riley was.

I stared at the layout of the house. There was a fence around the front half of the large yard, and there were thick trees behind to the south. Rachel had said she had probably been kept in a basement. If we could approach the house without being seen...

I started the car. "Are you up for a walk, Abigail?"

"Yes... Why?"

"I'm going to hide the car in the woods and we'll try to sneak up on the south side of the house as soon as it's dark enough."

I backtracked about a mile down the road from the gate, and found a small, cluster of trees just off the road where the car would be difficult to see in either direction. Then we got out and started walking through the woods toward the house. It was completely dark now and getting colder. I was glad we had both thought to wear our heavy jackets. The moon was making eerie shadows against the trees as we walked. I could imagine ghoulish figures flitting through the trees, watching us and waiting to spring. Considering that we were looking for a group of people involved in Occult practices the chills running up my spine were not entirely unfounded. I smiled slightly and decided not to share my imaginings with Abigail. She already looked jumpy enough.

After a while, I noticed Abigail was lagging behind. I stopped and looked at her curiously. "Abigail?" My voice sounded horribly loud in the silence.

Abigail scowled and knelt down. "I wore the wrong shoes for this, Ben. I'm going to have to adjust them. You go ahead. It won't take me long." Her voice was a loud whisper as she worked to adjust the straps on her fashion boots. I refrained from making a snide comment about impractical women's shoes and kept walking. She would catch up in a minute and I didn't want to lose any time.

The underbrush was getting thicker and wilder and it was harder to pick my way through. I could understand how Abigail was finding this difficult. I winced as the leaves of a bush rustled loudly as I fought my way through it.

I thought about Riley and wondered for the hundredth time if he was ok, and if we would find him in time. With every minute that passed, I became more uptight. What if we were too late? What if he was hurt? Were the kids with him or would we have to look elsewhere for them? Were we even in the right place?! I tried to shut out the 'what ifs' and concentrated on struggling through the underbrush. I would find Riley. There couldn't be any 'what ifs' about that.

_AN// Heh, with this chapter, I actually had to do... *cue sinister music* research! It was terrible, but somehow I made it through all right. ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

_AN/ So now my excuse is that I'm recovering from wisdom teeth extraction and my face is swollen like a chipmunk! :) _

_Anyway, we're nearing the end now; just a few more chappies. I considered making you all wait til Halloween to post the final chapter, but you've all been so wonderful to review and comment, that I just don't have the heart. You'll probably get the rest before Halloween. ;)_

Riley's POV

Halloween evening came really fast. You'd think that if you were stuck in a basement with nothing to do but ponder your fate while you pace/limp back and forth, time would move at a snail's pace. But it didn't. Before I knew it, I could see late afternoon shadows crawling menacingly across the yard through the window bars. I had spent the last day and a half wracking my brain for plans of escape, most of which I chucked out the figurative window of my mind as soon as they entered.

Ben was good at these things. I usually relied on Ben to come up with plans. But Ben wasn't here. It was just me, and a group of scared little kids who were waiting for yours truly to come up with a plan to save them from the Wicked Witch of the East. Trouble is, I wasn't having any luck coming up with a plan.

I had gotten the kids busy playing 'catch the empty water bottle' and they were getting pretty good at it. Except Andrew who kept getting bonked on the head with the bottle. Four-year-olds don't have the greatest coordination, but he was improving. At least with them occupied I could think.

"Hey Riley? What's this?"

Ok, maybe not.

I walked over to the dark basement corner that Luke was examining. He was down on his hands and knees running his fingers over an innocent looking section of floor. I thought he had found a bug or something because I had already been around the room like, eighty times, and found nothing helpful. "Luke, if it's a spider, I really don't need to see another one. And don't throw it at Sophie again. That's not nice."

"It's not a spider, Riley." Luke assured me.

Hmm... what did that leave? A cockroach? A rat? Another pile of dust to make me sneeze my brains out through my nose?

"Ok...what is it?" I knelt down closer.

"Lu-uke, throw the bottle back!" Sophie whined behind us. Whatever Luke had found had been the result of a bottle throw gone awry. Luke threw the bottle over my shoulder absently (narrowly missing my head) and went back to examining the floor.  "I found this," he said, pointing to a big crack in the cement. I was about to ask him what was so special about poor building materials when his finger moved along the crack back into a dark corner where the poor light prevented me from seeing the floor. Luke tugged at something back there in the dark and, suddenly, the crack widened and a perfectly square chunk of floor moved.

"See? I can lift the floor," Luke said proudly.

My heart leapt. I told it to take a chill pill. "Scoot over, chief, lem'me see." I nudged Luke aside gently and slid my fingers into the dark corner, hoping nothing creepy-crawly would bite them off. After a minute, I found four little finger-sized grooves. I stuck my fingers into them, pulled upwards, and came away with a fair-sized slab of thin cement in my hand. And under it was a hole. Shifting the slab aside, I felt around inside. I couldn't find a bottom or sides.

It was at that point I started wishing I still had that flashlight. I was going to have to lower myself into a dark hole in the corner of a dark cellar to see if it would get us the heck out of here. Let's see, wait for psycho cultists to start sacrificing children, or explore mysterious underground hole without flashlight. Those were pretty much my options and I wasn't very happy about them. And how was I going to lower myself into a hole when I only had one usable hand? Without knowing the depth of the hole, I could break my neck. Or legs...I could break anything and everything jumping in there, and that wouldn't exactly be helpful.

"Hey, Luke?" I said slowly. The kid was still beside me, watching intently.

"Yeah, Riley?"

I took a deep breath. He probably wasn't going to like my plan, and I didn't either. "This hole might help us get out, but I need to know how deep it is. How would you feel if I lowered you down there a little ways to see where the bottom is?"

Luke swallowed. "You wouldn't drop me, would'ya?"

Holding a six year-old kid one-handed? Nah! I've got plenty of muscle...somewhere.

"No, I won't drop you, but I...I can only use one of my hands. The other one got hurt." I figured if I was going to use this kid as a depth-finder I should at least tell him why. "I can't hang on to the edges to lower myself down and I need to know where the bottom is before I jump. Do you think you can do it?"

"I'll try," he said bravely. Man, I loved these kids.

Bracing my feet over the hole and gripping Luke's slender wrist tightly in my good hand, I lowered him down slowly. He had his eyes shut tight and he was clinging like death to my arm with both hands. I probably couldn't have dropped him if I tried. "Feel around with your feet," I told him. "Can you feel the sides?"

"N-no," he said, kicking around. "I can't feel the sides. I can't feel anything."

I lowered him a little further, slowly, so that he wouldn't panic. Without getting down on my injured stomach I couldn't lower him much more. Good thing Luke was tall for his age. I could feel his little fingers adjusting their grip worriedly. "It's ok buddy, just feel for the bottom. I've got you. A little further…"

"It's here!" he yelled triumphantly. "I can feel the bottom with my toes, Riley!"

"Way to go, chief!" I pulled him back up and hugged him. "You did great!"

I turned to Sophie and Andrew who were keeping watch at the top of the steps. "All clear?"

Sophie saluted, bringing a smile to my face. "Ok guys, I'm going to see if we can get out this way. Hang tough," I told them. Ah, now for the fun part. When we found Parkington Lane's tomb beneath Trinity, and I had asked who wanted to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first, nobody had paid much attention. It occurred to me now to be very grateful that Ian hadn't forcefully volunteered me as punishment for opening my mouth. I would've had to inform him that I have a slight phobia for underground places. Now here I was, poised above another creepy tunnel without a flashlight. Joy.

Holding onto the edge with my uninjured hand, I jumped down. I hit the bottom a little sooner than estimated and my landing was not so graceful. Not that I'm known for grace anyway.

I stumbled backwards and hit a wall behind me, stifling a yelp because it freaked me out so bad. I was so glad that it was only a hard packed dirt wall, and not a decomposed body or something.

When I stood up, my head was just a few inches below the top. That little fact really didn't help the rush of claustrophobia that I felt. I could see literally nothing but the patch of dim light above my head, with Luke's eager face peeking down at me. And then I realized that there really wasn't any way for me to get back up, and that made it about twelve times worse. I was glad of a possible escape, but making myself explore further into a dark scary hole was proving to be the most difficult thing I had ever done. I think I would have rather played chew toy with the Hounds of Hell again.

Feeling around me, I found where the wall opened up into a narrow tunnel, thereby proving my hunch that this was not just some random hole in the floor. I kept one hand on the wall beside me, and the other stretched in front of me so I wouldn't run into anything - inanimate or otherwise. I was trying really hard not to think of all those scary movies I had foolishly watched in the past. You know, the ones where something large and sinister is always lurking in the darkness, waiting to jump out at the poor nervous wreck of a hero who was stupid enough to venture into a pitch black tunnel or cave without a flashlight, and tear him to pieces? I decided that 'Dora the Explorer' was about all the cinematic excitement I would be up to for a while if I got out of this. At least she probably has a flashlight!

The passage led slightly downward, which really didn't help my nerves, and my hand kept encountering cobwebs. I shuddered. There was still time to run into decomposed bodies, monsters, or huge bugs, right?

Even though I was distracted and jumpy, part of my multi-tasking mind was actually curious as to what the purpose of this tunnel had originally been. Before I met Benjamin Franklin Gates I probably wouldn't have cared, but the guy has rubbed off on me at least a little.

The only theory I could come up with was the Underground Railroad. Which wasn't really a railroad and was only sometimes literally underground. What's up with that? Anyway, that was probably what this was. A tunnel built by abolitionists back in 1800-something to hide and transport escaped slaves to the North (which could potentially mean we'd end up in Canada by following this thing). Either I had paid more attention than I thought in high-school history, or more probably, Ben had rattled on and on about it at some point and part of it had stayed in my subconscious. He does that a lot - usually in the car where I can't get away. The very definition of 'captive audience.'

I estimated that I had gone about a quarter mile before my hand hit a wall in front of me. Dead end?

Further exploring brought the discovery that the hand out in front of me had actually shot through the rungs of a ladder leaned against the wall. A very, very old, decrepit ladder that would probably break into a million pieces if I tried to climb it. Every time I try to climb something this old, it ends up being far more exciting than I'd prefer. Ancient steps, ancient ladders, ancient elevator systems, ancient balanced platforms, ancient counterweight doors... If it's ancient and potentially dangerous I've probably had a nasty experience with it!

But I didn't have a whole lot of choice at this point. I knew the day was waning and we were running out of time, so with much difficulty due to the injured hand, I cautiously started climbing.

Whoever had built this ladder deserved a milkshake because it held little old me just fine, and pretty soon, my head brushed the top of the passage. Or rather, it brushed a huge bunch of cobwebs and my hand found the top as a result of my frantic thrashing to get them out of my hair before any huge spiders had a chance to run down my neck.

After forcefully dispelling images of Shelob and all her children from my mind, I groped around above my head and found what felt like a trap door... which wouldn't push open until I had found and battled with the rusty latch for about ten minutes. It had to be some cruel fate or something. We find a way out, but because I can't see a darn thing down here we all get discovered and killed before I can get the freaking door open! Murphy's law. Go figure.

Fortunately I was finally able to push the trap door open, although I was also pushing against about a foot of soil and plant growth. I was lucky a tree hadn't decided to grow on top of this thing.

As I shoved the door over my head, I was showered with dirt and met with a blast of fresh, freezing cold air - as opposed to the dead, not-so-fresh, freezing cold air in the tunnel and basement. Either way, it was still cold. I could also see now, which was a very welcome change, even though the light was dim with evening.

Looking around, I saw that my head was sticking out of the ground (which had to have looked hilarious by the way) in a grove of trees about a quarter mile from the House of Horror. I could see it through the tall-standing trees, but it was far enough away to avoid detection, I hoped. The trap door, I could see now, was set in a strong support of beams built into the ground and stretching down into the tunnel as well to keep it from collapsing. The safety of the tunnel was debatable however, considering how old this thing probably was. It was really weird, having a trap door out in the middle of the woods like this. It felt just a little bit Alice in Wonderland-ish.

After one last look around, I left the door swung open and slid back down the ladder to get the kids. They were all waiting for me at the mouth of the hole, whispering excitedly. Probably something about Riley disappearing into a tunnel and never emerging. I failed to understand the excitement that thought would evoke, but whatever. My whole exploring escapade had only taken about twenty minutes, although it had felt like half my young life.

"Hey guys, the tunnel leads out. Let's blow this popsicle stand!" I called up to them. "Make sure you all have sweatshirts and a water bottle." I added practically. Abigail would be proud of me for remembering something like that. Twice, no less.

"Catch me, Riley!" Was all the warning I got before I was landed on by Sophie. Give me credit though, I did manage to catch her and keep both of us upright all with one hand. That takes talent, let me tell you. Luke had the courtesy to give me a little more warning before dropping on me, and Andrew was nearly in tears before we prevailed upon him to jump down. I didn't blame the kid. If I had been four, you would have had to throw me in. I never would have jumped willingly. In fact I probably would have made a Riley-shaped hole in the wall in my effort to escape, thereby making the creepy escape tunnel an unnecessary evil.

I told the kids to hold hands and led them as quickly as my limp would allow down the passage, guiding myself along the wall again. Weird how things are so much less scary the second time through. Faster too. Since I had determined that we weren't going to fall in a bottomless pit, or run into something that wanted to eat us, I could lead the kids fairly quickly even without the benefit of sight.

Finally the dim shape of the ladder loomed into view and we could see a few stars above the trees. "We're almost out!" Sophie said happily. "I can't wait to see Mommy."

I smiled. "Up the ladder, kiddo. Then we can work on getting you back to your mom. Stay low and be quiet when you get up there, ok?" Sophie nodded and scurried up the ladder. Luke followed her with hardly a blink. I don't know what these twins did when they weren't being kidnapped, but they were both quite athletic for a couple of six-year-olds.

Getting Andrew up the ladder proved to be a little more difficult. The rungs were spaced too far apart and his short little arms barely reached. "I tant do it, Wiley." He looked at me in alarm. "I tant get out!"

I bit my lip. "Don't worry Andrew. We're going to get out. Here, climb on my back. I'll give you a ride, ok?"

"Tay…"

I knelt down and he scrambled onto my back. I bit back a yell as a small knee jabbed my injured side in his effort to cling with leech-like tenacity to my torso. "Ready?" I gritted between my teeth.

"Weady, Wiley!"

Weady Wiley? Oi. Just drop an anvil on my head.

"Hold on tight, Chief."

I was halfway up the ladder before one of the rungs decided to break under our combined weight, leaving me dangling by one hand and an elbow looped through another rung. Scratch the idea that the builder of this ladder deserved a milkshake. At the moment I wanted to clock him with his own ladder.

Andrew's arms tightened on my neck and I almost passed out for want of air before I was able to find the next rung with my foot and continue climbing. I would have to explain to the child that I need air just like anyone else--especially in tense situations.

"It's ok, buddy. We're fine." I choked out. "You can loosen the strangle-hold now." Pretty please? With a cherry on top?... No? Okay, fine.

I hauled us out of the hole and pulled Andrew's linked arms from around my neck before he managed to fully asphyxiate me, trying to look casual and not like a gasping fish as I sucked in air. It was fully dark now and the only light was coming from a few stars and the really bright harvest moon that was just rising.

Sophie tugged at my arm. "Riley, there's someone over there." She whispered, pointing somewhere behind me. Great. It would be just too easy to get away with no hang-ups, right?

I turned around and looked where she was pointing. Sure enough, a little to the northwest of us, dark figures could be seen moving through the trees. Several of them were carrying torches. I thought that was pretty weird, unless they were trying to save money on flashlight batteries. At first, I thought they were looking for us, but they didn't get any closer, so we were still in the clear. But for how long I didn't know.

I stood up cautiously and looked around. I could barely see the house from here, but I could tell that the long driveway leading to it led from the south. That hopefully meant the nearest road and civilization were somewhere in that same direction. Our best bet would be to head that way, more or less, and stay well away from the house.

"That way," I told my little dependents, pointing out the direction. "And keep quiet. I don't want them to hear us." I winced as our feet rustled the dried leaves. Was that really the sound I had enjoyed making so much the other day? Funny how scary experiences can take the fun right out of every day pleasures.

We made a wide circle around the house and then I slowly turned us for the road, keeping well within the trees. Glancing behind us I could now see one large flame instead of just the little torches. The psychopaths had lit a bonfire. Either they were planning something nasty, or they were having a marshmallow roast. Hmm...death by s'more overdose? What a way to go!

When we got about a mile away from the house, I finally began to relax a little bit. The downside to it was that now I could really feel every little ache and pain in my body. It was weird. When I had felt the pressure to get the kids away safe and when I had been so freaked out in the tunnel, I hadn't really noticed how bad I was hurting or how tired I was because of the adrenaline pumping through my system. Now that I was beginning to feel we might make a clean break, my leg started to throb eight times worse than before and my side injury started to complain as well. I was so tired I could have curled up right there on the cold ground and slept, and believe me, I am not the camping type.

"You guys doing ok?" I asked.

"I'm cold," Sophie said.

"Hungry," from Luke.

"I'm scared," Andrew's little voice piped up.

So there it was. Only an hour or so into our escape and I was already getting the 'are we there yet?' routine. This was going to be a long night.

I sighed. "I know guys, but we have to keep going till we find a house or something. We'll take a break here in a bit."

Our break came sooner than anticipated when I suddenly blacked out and fell over. Right there, just limping along behind the kids, and then, wham! I was examining the leaves very closely. I shook my head and cursed mildly under my breath as I picked myself up.

"Are you ok, Riley?" Sophie asked in concern.

"I'm fine. Just tired." And hungry, and cold, and injured. "Let's um... Let's take a break, ok?" All of us sat down in a little circle next to the trunk of a huge oak tree and hugged our sweatshirts close. Andrew planted himself in my lap again.  "It's weally scary out here." He looked around at the shadowed trees that surrounded us with a wide-eyed expression.

It did look eerie. The moon made things really bright, but the trees were so thick that they blocked out all but a few spooky shafts of light. It was very Halloween-like. And of course, when you're in a situation like that, you can literally hear a pin drop if you're quiet enough, and now that we had stopped walking we weren't exactly making much noise. We were too busy trying to stay warm.

"What was that?!" Sophie whispered suddenly.

It almost brought a grin to my face. I had just known that was coming. "What was what?" I asked.

"I heard something!" Her eyes got really big and she moved closer to me.

"It was probably just a squirrel or a deer." I assured her. I hadn't heard anything and my senses were definitely on hyper-drive, so I wasn't worried yet.

"Don't be a scaredy-cat, Sophie," Luke sneered. But I noticed that he moved in a little closer too.

"There it was again!" Sophie squeaked, grabbing my arm. This time I heard it too. The leaves had definitely rustled ahead of us toward the road.

"Stay really still," I whispered. I was still hoping it was only a deer and I was trying to remember if there were any dangerous animals in this part of the country. Then I realized that I had absolutely no idea what part of the country we were in!

The rustling continued and got louder. We all scrunched up against the tree and tried to look small, hoping whatever was out there wasn't hungry or bigger than us.

Suddenly, a tall figure broke through the trees and underbrush not far away from us and I almost started laughing hysterically from relief. There was no way I could mistake that self-assured, lanky swagger - even in the dark. I scrambled to my feet.

"Ben!"

--

_AN// I have realized something. My writings from a year ago were VERY long-winded! I just rambled and rambled and rambled.... I mean, I know Riley is talkative, and his mind is probably twice as fast, but really! *eyeroll*_

_I've noticed something else too. I seem to have a fondness for putting my heroes underground. This was the first of three stories now where I do that! :) Maybe someday I'll learn to come up with real plots..._


	7. Chapter 7

Ben's POV

I blinked in surprise as Riley emerged from behind a tree. He was smiling and looking really happy to see me. It took me a second to realize it was really him and not just my imagination.

"Dude, I really hope you brought the getaway car," he said lightly, though I could hear definite relief in his voice.

"Riley! What happened? Are you ok?" I finally stammered, closing the distance between us and looking him over critically. He didn't look too good. Even in the moonlight I could tell his face was paler than usual, and I hadn't missed the limp, even though he was doing a good job of hiding it. Closer inspection revealed a black eye as well.

He shrugged. "I'm fine. Where's Abbi?" Little liar.

"She's…" I looked back into the trees where I had left my wife only moments before. She should have caught up to me by now, but there was no sign of her. "She was messing with her shoe. She told me to go ahead." I shrugged, trying not to worry about it.

"Ben, Abigail should not be left alone. She's like a little kid for trouble." He crossed his arms pointedly.

"Uh, Riley, I don't know how to tell you this, but she says the same about you."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So, we really should go find her so she can kill me and get it over with."

"Don't worry. She'll kill you; then she'll hug you."

Riley grinned. "I don't know which is worse!"

"How did you get away?" I asked.

He threw me a condescending look. "Ben, haven't you ever watched 'The Great Escape'?"

"What, you tunneled out?" Believe it or not, I actually do watch movies once in a while. Just not when Riley's around. I have to keep up the illusion of being a rabid-scholar who doesn't have time for things like movies.

"Uh, no. Actually, there was already a tunnel, so I didn't have to dig one." He seemed surprised that I actually knew what he was talking about.

"Riley?" A tiny voice peeped from somewhere in the dark behind Riley and I caught a glimpse of three small blond heads almost invisible among the leaves. My next question had just been answered. Riley had not only managed to rescue himself, but he had gotten the kids away as well.

Riley turned toward the tree. "It's ok guys. This is my friend." The three children scrambled to their feet and came over to us, standing slightly behind Riley and looking at me shyly with large, moonlit blue eyes.

"This is Luke, Sophie, and Andrew." Riley said, introducing each one. "Guys, meet Ben. He's like... well, he's like my family. You can trust him." He smiled at me. "So, now that we all know each other, can we go, please? You did bring the car right? I mean, you didn't walk all the way from D.C. And calling the police wouldn't be too bad an idea either because these people are insane! Ben, they were going to…" he glanced at the kids. "Um.. I'll tell you later, but it was bad."

"Yeah, I know. We talked to a detective and he told us what they had planned. I'm just glad I found you."

"Me too. I've experienced more lunacy in the last few days than when I helped you steal the Declaration of Independence. And believe me, I figured that stunt took the cake."

I shook my head fondly. At least his mouth wasn't injured. "The car isn't too far. We didn't want anyone to see us, so we hid it near the road. Abigail has the phone, so we'll call the police when we catch up to her. Are you ok to walk?" I asked cautiously, looking Riley over again uncertainly. Funny how the limp disappeared as soon as I asked.

"Well, you're not carrying me, if that's what you're thinking," he growled.

I smirked. "Actually, when we find Abigail, I'll let her do the honors." I picked up Andrew, who was looking really tired, and much more willing to be carried than someone else I knew.

Riley rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. Sure Ben. Even geeks have a certain amount of pride, and mine can only take so much. Be nice."

I let him have the last word and started concentrating on finding Abigail. I didn't know how anything could have happened to her in such a short amount of time, but all the same, we should have met her by now.

By the time we reached the place where I had left Abigail struggling with her shoes, I was getting worried. There was no sign of her. I didn't say anything, but Riley saw me pause and stopped.

"Do you think she went back to the car?" he asked. He didn't sound convinced.

"I doubt it. But she might have gotten off track. We might have missed her." I managed to make my voice sound a little more convincing than Riley's, but inside my heart began to thud uncomfortably. Abigail may be the sort of woman to wear unreliable fashion boots on a rescue mission, but she isn't going to get lost on said rescue mission. At least, it didn't seem likely.

"Let's get these kids to the car. If she's not there, I'll go look for her."

Surprisingly, he didn't argue or say something smart which made me glance at him to make sure he was still alive. Instead of paying attention to me, he had stopped walking and was standing stiff with his head cocked to one side, listening. I stopped and listened as well, and in a second, I heard it too - people shouting and dogs barking.

Riley's eyes widened. "Oh no. Ben, we've gotta get out of here fast! They know we got out."

I set Andrew back on the ground. "Run kids! That way. Go!" I pointed them in the direction of the car and they took off and ran as only little kids can. Riley and I weren't far behind, but Riley wasn't running at his usual speed and I held back with him to help if he needed it. He was pushing through it, but I could tell he was exhausted, and though I couldn't see the full extent of his injuries, it was easy to see that he wasn't his usual energetic, mouthy self.

"Hey, you doin' ok?" I asked when I saw him stumble for about the third time.

He sighed in frustration. "That's kind of a stupid question, Ben." He threw me a look. "Has anyone ever told you that you are ridiculously overprotective?"

"Frequently. But what I'm not getting is an answer to my stupid question."

"Actually, by not answering your stupid question, I was hoping to make you feel better."

"Didn't work."

"Darn."

"Want me to carry you?"

"Want me to fry your motherboard?"

"Point taken."

He shook his head (not the easiest thing to do while running, but Riley has many hidden talents). "Seriously, I'm fine, Ben."

"Liar."

"Freak."

The car wasn't far away, but from the sounds I was hearing, our pursuers were getting dangerously close. I could also hear cars not far away which probably meant they were searching for us from the road as well. Fortunately, we only had a few more gargantuan bushes to struggle through and we would be at the car. The kids had outdistanced us.

Other than our immediate predicament, the foremost thought in my mind was the whereabouts of my wife. It was like she had vanished into thin air. I didn't want to think of the implications involved in her disappearing like that, so instead I concentrated on getting Riley and myself to the car without further mishap. Abigail was more than capable of taking care of herself.

The car came into sight at the exact moment that two huge dogs burst through the trees behind us, snarling and baring their teeth. It was easy to see they were the attack dog type - out for blood. Ours, in fact.

"Riley, run!" I yelled, practically shoving him in the right direction. I scooped up a large stick and swung it just as the larger dog leapt at me. My stick hit hard and his teeth snapped shut with a crack. I turned in time to see Riley vault onto the hood of the Lexus just in time to escape the other dog that had gotten past me. He hadn't had time to get inside the car, but at least he was safe for the moment. I couldn't see the kids anywhere.

"Ben, look out!" Riley yelled, bringing my attention back to my own predicament. I barely had time to put the stick between my body and the dog before he barrelled into me. He knocked me to the ground and his jaws snapped bare inches from my face. I didn't really notice his claws digging into my skin because I was too busy keeping the stick wedged against his neck. I heard Riley frantically yell my name, and I hoped he would stay put.

I managed after a second of struggling to pull my legs up and kick, throwing the animal off me. I swung the stick again and the dog let out a howl as the stick cracked against the side of its head. It backed down with a whine, giving me time to scramble to my feet and run for the car. Fortunately, the other dog was too busy barking at Riley to see me jump up beside him. The dog I had smacked recovered quickly and joined the other, growling at us and circling the Lexus.

"Ben, are you ok?" Riley asked, his eyes huge in the dark.

"I'm fine." I told him. "Just a little scratched."

"That was way too close." Riley muttered.

"Are the kids in the car?"

"I uh, didn't really have time to look."

I growled, but it wasn't directed at Riley - just our situation in general.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking."

"Think faster," Riley said, looking beyond the barking dogs to the edge of the clearing. At least eight people had filed between the trees and were approaching the car. Even in the dark, I could see that a couple of them had guns, which would have been cause enough for concern, but a minute later my heart dropped into my stomach as another two figures entered the clearing, one of them very blond, angry, and fiercely struggling against the other.  "Let me go! You jerk! Take your hands off me!"

She was madder than I had ever seen her, and thankfully unhurt as far as I could see. I should never have left her alone. Even for a minute.

She caught sight of me on top of the car and stopped struggling. "Ben?" Then she saw Riley and her eyes widened. He was probably the last person she had expected to see.

"Abigail, are you all right?" I called to her. I take the prize for stupid questions today.

"Yes," she answered. "I'm not hurt. I just need Gorilla Repellent!" She angrily elbowed the large man holding her to accentuate her words, causing me to smile a little. I almost found it in me to pity her captor.

"Riley, you look awful!" she told him by way of greeting.

"Nice to see you too, Abigail," he replied sweetly.

A slim girl approached the car. She was the only one that I could see who was not wearing black, but her eyes and hair were painfully dark. "Get down off the car," she ordered.

"No thanks. I choose life." Riley quoted, staring at the snarling dogs below us. "Besides, I have great view of the stars from here."

"Riley," I warned. "Quit mouthing off!"

"Sorry. Force of habit. I've been doing it since I learned to talk."

"I believe it."

The girl called to the dogs and they backed off. "I will not ask you again," she said in a low, menacing voice. She made a motion to the man holding Abigail and he put his gun to her head. It took all my self-control not to do something stupid. Riley was glaring at the man, shooting daggers through his expressive blue eyes, but for once, he kept his mouth shut.

"Hey, take it easy!" I told them, climbing down from the car. Riley followed my lead.

"Tie them up," the girl ordered shortly. "And find the kids. They're here somewhere.""

We were thrust roughly over beside Abigail and our hands were tied in front of us. "Ben, I'm so sorry. They caught me by surprise," Abigail whispered.

I shook my head miserably. "It isn't your fault. I should never have left you alone." I had been mentally kicking myself ever since I had realized Abigail was missing. I had bungled this whole thing.

One of the men went over to the car and yanked the door open, an expectant look on his face, but after looking around for a moment, he turned to the girl with a shrug. "They aren't in here, Amy."

My heart leapt. Had the kids gotten away?

"What do you mean?" Amy said angrily, stomping over to the car. She went so far as to climb inside and flick on the interior lights before climbing out again and approaching Riley. She was shorter than he was, and if not for the danger of our predicament, it would have been almost comical to see her glaring up at him through her dark eye-liner as though she thought she could intimidate him.

"Where are they?" she ground between her teeth.

Riley shrugged. "Check your crystal ball."

Amy slapped him viciously and I lunged forward, earning myself a sharp cuff on the side of the head.

Riley shook his head and blinked. "Geez! Amy, I hope someone drops a house on you."

"Tell me where they are, or I will set the dogs on you again!" she threatened. I ground my teeth. I had not missed the use of the word 'again' in that sentence. That explained Riley's injuries.

Riley glared at her. "I don't know where they are any more than you do. We lost them in the woods. They got scared when they heard the dogs and ran away. I guess you'll just have to roast marshmallows like normal people do on Halloween."

Amy narrowed her eyes and took a step back from Riley. "Nick." At her word, the young man holding Riley swung him around and punched him hard in the stomach. Riley sank to his knees gasping for breath. Abigail let out a scream of pure rage, and I started yelling and struggling for all I was worth.  "Hey! Leave him alone!"

Amy ignored us and knelt next to Riley. "You won't tell me where they are?" Her tone was almost conversational and totally dispassionate.

"I don't...know," Riley gasped. Nick landed him a harsh kick in the ribs. He groaned and curled himself into a tight ball on the ground. Nick kicked him again and I expected to hear bones cracking.

"Stop it!" Abigail screamed.

I struggled helplessly, trying to think of a way to distract them from Riley. The poor kid was still struggling for breath.

"Knock it off!" I yelled, trying to draw attention to myself. Thankfully, this time it worked and Amy turned to me.

"I want to know where those kids are."

"He's telling the truth," I told her earnestly. "We don't know where they are. I thought they would have gotten in the car. Hurting Riley isn't going to get you what you want."

Now that she was standing so close to me I realized just how young she was. I would be surprised if she was over nineteen. How could a girl who was hardly more than a child be so messed up?!

"I always get what I want. One way or another," she replied smugly. She turned to her minions. "You five, bring them to the clearing. The rest of you, look for the kids. They haven't gone far." She looked at us. "If we can't find the kids, one of them will have to do."

With guns to our backs we were shoved along back the way we had come, though this time skirting the large bushes and the majority of underbrush. It would have been nice to know there was a path there when we started this venture. It would have made our going a lot faster.

I kept an eye on Riley who was uncharacteristically quiet. The bruise on his cheek stood out starkly in the bright moonlight against his pale face. Abigail was still seething, and I wondered if she was melting the frost under her feet as she walked.

We came to a large clearing with a bonfire built in the center. We were set against trees at the edge with our arms tied behind us, after which most of our guards went to join the search for the kids. Three of them remained, staying close to the fire and paying little attention to us.

"So now what, Ben?" Riley asked in that hopeless tone that scares the heck out of me whenever I hear it coming out of him. It doesn't usually show up, but Riley does possess a pessimistic streak along with his smart-mouth and computer genius.

"Well, usually about this time the natives start dancing around the fire and waving feathered spears in the air while chanting-"

He copied perfectly the look I usually give him when I'm annoyed. "Seriously, Ben."

"I don't know. I'm thinking."

"You do that a lot," he said heavily, staring ahead of him into the flames of the bonfire with a slightly blank look on his face.

"Riley!" Abigail said sharply, causing him to start and look at her. "It's going to be ok."

He shook his head. "Do you guys know how insane these people are? They were going to sacrifice one of those kids to a pagan goddess! They're not going to listen to reason."

"I know."

"We're tied to trees, Ben. The police don't even know where we are."

"Thanks for the news flash, Riley, but it doesn't really help!" I didn't mean for that to sound so sharp, but I didn't need him giving up right now. "I'm sorry. Just work on getting the ropes loosened if you can." I said in a gentler tone.

After about ten minutes of complete silence while we wrestled with our bonds I was beginning to wish Riley would talk again, even if it was to complain. I started to say something when I felt something lightly brush my numbed hands. I jumped and tried to twist around.

"Shh! Hold still!"


	8. Chapter 8

Ben's POV

I recognized Sophie's voice. The little girl was behind me, trying desperately to untie the ropes. Her brother and Andrew were crouched behind Abigail and Riley trying to do the same for them. If we got out of this, these three kids were going to get the most expensive toy they had ever dreamed of owning, courtesy of Ben and Abigail Gates.

"Sophie, reach into my pocket and get my knife. Use that," I whispered. My heart started to pound with adrenaline. I was afraid that at any moment one of the guards would come closer and find the kids.

Sophie found my knife and managed to cut through my ropes without slicing my wrists which I was very thankful for, considering I had sharpened it not long ago. Then she carefully crept behind Riley and Abigail to free them. We didn't move, maintaining the illusion of being tied up.

"Abigail, I need you to disappear for a minute," I whispered. "When they're not looking, slide behind the tree and hide in the bushes with the kids. Riley, when they see she's gone and come over here, we're going to have to move fast."

"That's a brilliant plan, Ben," Riley said without looking at me. His eyes were wide and he was staring at the three men by the fire.

"You have a better one?"

"No. But in case you didn't notice, there's three of them -_with guns_- and only two of us..._without_ guns."

I grinned. "Don't be so negative. We can take them. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I think it died in Cibola." He rolled his eyes with a small smile. "I'm ready when you are."

Abigail waited until none of the guards were looking our way, and then silently slipped behind the tree and a couple feet into the bushes with the kids.

It was actually really funny when one of the men turned to check on us and did a double take. He glanced over casually, then looked back at his friends for two seconds before whipping his head back around and noticing Abigail's absence. It was like some cheesy, old silent film.

Riley sniggered. "Can't slip anything past these guys."

The man alerted the other two and they came toward us. "Where's the woman?" the first one demanded, apparently very sore about the fact that he had failed in his guard duties. Riley and I made it worse by grinning infuriatingly.

It had the desired effect. The man's face twisted in anger and he came close to me, holding his gun to my face. "Where is she?" he ground out.

It really surprised him when I grabbed the gun out of his hands and kicked him in the stomach. Before he could react, I had rendered him senseless with the gun.

Riley jumped up and tackled the other man before he could get his gun out. That kid can move fast when he's running on adrenaline. I knew he wouldn't hold out very long because of his injuries, but as I took a step to help him, the third man pointed his gun at me, stopping me in my tracks with a sick smile. "You shouldn't have done that."

He cocked the revolver. I took a deep breath, expecting to feel a bullet hit my chest.

Abigail shot out of the darkness like a cat and took the man to the ground with her arms securely around his neck. The gun discharged in the air but she held on tightly, trapping his arm in the same position, so he couldn't fire at me. He choked and squirmed until I stepped forward and hit him with the gun.

I quickly helped Abigail get out from under the man's limp form. Apparently my wife had had some martial arts training I wasn't aware of.

"Ben!" Riley was valiantly struggling to keep his opponent from reaching his gun, but he was rapidly losing ground, held down by a knee in the chest as the larger man practically sat on him.

I reached them barely in time to save Riley from an elbow to the nose as he lost his hold on the man's arm. I nearly tore the guy's arm from his socket when I jerked him off Riley and punched him solidly. He landed in an unconscious heap next to Riley who just laid there for a second, looking dazed.

"How come you left the big one for me?!" he complained.

I pulled him to his feet. "Welcome to the world of spontaneous escape attempts."

He smiled, but it turned into a grimace and he suddenly clutched his left hand tightly to his chest.

"Riley?" Abigail stepped forward and gently pried his fingers away so that she could see.

Riley groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Abigail winced as she examined his hand. "Oh Riley, this looks terrible! It's broken!"

"No kidding?" Riley gasped. "I had no idea." He frowned. "I also have no idea how I just fought that guy, because it freakin' hurts now!"

I looked at his hand and had to agree. There was no way he should have been able to do that. He must have been in excruciating pain now that the adrenaline had worn off. His hand was swollen and there were puncture marks that had not even begun to heal.

I wondered what other injuries he was dealing with, but we really didn't have time. The gun that had gone off a minute ago would have the rest of the gang down on us at any second.

"Riley, can you make it to the car?" I asked anxiously.

"Nah. I think I'll just stay here and party with the cultists," he said sarcastically. I took that as a good sign.

We slipped around the trees and found the kids. They saw Riley and trapped his knees in a hug. He smiled at them, looking a little more like his usual self. "Hey, where did you guys disappear to?"

Sophie grinned in the dark and I could see a large gap where one of her front teeth had recently gone missing. "We climbed up a tree. We found one with branches that Andrew could reach. The big dogs couldn't get us there, and we stayed real quiet so the bad guys wouldn't see us." She seemed infinitely proud of herself. In fact, all three of them did, and with good reason. I wasn't sure if they realized they had sort of saved the day.

"We've seen lots of movies. We knew what to do," Luke put in matter-of-factly.

"Come on, guys. We gotta go," I said, starting along the path. It was going to be a real trick getting back to the car without running into someone. Fortunately, it was past midnight now, and the moon had set, leaving the woods in almost complete darkness. If we could avoid dogs and flashlight beams we had a chance.

Keeping to the thicker trees and bushes I lead them quietly toward the car. At least twice before we reached it, we had to crouch down into the bushes to avoid searching flashlights, but there was no sign of the dogs, and the searchers seemed to be making their way back to the clearing where we had just come from, so I was counting my blessings.

The car was still where we had left it, but there were four men standing around it, beaming flashlights into the thick trees around us. I couldn't tell if they were armed or not, but I wasn't going to gamble.

"What is this, party night at the Gates' car?" I muttered, crouching behind a large tree. There couldn't have been just one guy near the Lexus? Nooo, it had to be _four_.

"What's the plan?" Riley whispered at my elbow.

"You assume I have a plan?"

"You always assume I can hack into anything," he returned.

"Can't you?"

"That's beside the point. But I might have a plan." He smiled. "Do you have a flashlight?" I handed him the one in my pocket.

"Ok, you fake them out while the rest of us run to the car, and then you circle around and meet us. Would that work?"

I grinned. It was childishly simple, and just so...Riley. But it was just what we needed. "That'll work. The rest of you get to the car and I'll meet you, yeah? And call the police when you get in there," I added.

"Sure Ben. Just be careful. I'm getting really sick of failed escape attempts." Riley slid the flashlight back into my hand and crouched down next to Abigail and the kids.

I took a deep breath and quietly slid around until I was directly across from my previous hiding place. Then I flicked the flashlight on and boldly called out. "Hey guys! Over here!"

As hoped, the four men angled their flashlights through the trees, and came toward me, thinking I was one of their own. I saw the bushes move on the other side of the clearing and the dark shapes of Riley, Abigail, and the kids broke from their cover and ran for the Lexus.

I allowed the three men to get nearly close enough to see me before I ran, snapping the flashlight off and circling around them before they even knew what was going on. Abigail saw me coming and started the car. I got the passenger door open just in time for it to shield me from a stream of bullets as the men realized they had been tricked.

Riley was crouched in the far back, and the kids were all buckled up in the back seat, huddled down as far as they could go, screaming at the top of their lungs as bullets shattered the window glass. Abigail gunned the engine and the thugs who had nearly reached our car scattered like bowling pins in their effort to get out of the way.

To her credit, Abigail managed to avoid killing someone as she turned the Lexus sharply and steered us away from the clearing and onto the road.

"I called the police. If we can avoid them until they get here we'll be fine," she said.

"Great. Just be careful. They were looking for us from the road too. Steer clear of anything that isn't flashing lights."

Abigail laughed. "Usually we're trying to avoid the flashing lights."

"Knowing Ben it won't last long," Riley said. "He's probably already got plans to get into the Pentagon or something."

I turned to shoot him a glare and saw headlights behind us, getting rapidly closer - no flashing lights involved.

"Abigail-"

"I see them. Hang on," Abigail said, gripping the wheel tighter and stepping down on the gas.

"Ben, the last time she drove with people chasing us, we lost a bumper!" Riley complained, gripping the seat tightly as Abigail sped up. I wished he could be buckled up, considering that we were being chased by lunatics, and Abigail would probably have to pull some fast turns, but there was no help for it.

"And the last time I let you drive, the van was destroyed," I said pointedly. Riley pouted.

"And we won't even speak of what you did to that rental in London." Abigail added with a meaningful look at me. Riley snickered and I started to ask whose side Abigail was on when she suddenly veered sharply just in time to avoid a collision with another car as we rounded a sharp bend. Her turn carried us completely off the road and into the trees. Shots fired from the car proved that it was full of more people trying to kill us.

"How many of these people are there?!" Riley asked, cautiously poking his head back up.

"OK, hold on. This is going to get rough!" Abigail warned. Instead of trying to bring the Lexus back to the road, she continued her turn into a sparser section of trees. The car that had just run us off the road followed.

"Abigail, I don't think this is--Tree!" I yelled, bracing my legs stiff against the floorboard.

Abigail calmly turned in time to miss the tree. "Hey, no back seat driving!" She complained as I pried my fingers away from the dashboard.

"I haven't said a word!" Riley protested. His eyes were wider than they had been before. "If you let me live, I will never speak again!"

"Can I have that in writing?" Abigail asked snidely, skillfully maneuvering around trees, bushes, and the occasional fallen log.

Our change of course was jolting to say the least. I was very proud of our Lexus, but it was not made to go over this kind of terrain smoothly--convincing TV commercials notwithstanding. And in the dark, it was twice as challenging because we couldn't see what was ahead of us until we were nearly on top of it. Fortunately though, our pursuers' vehicles were not equipped with ATV potential either, so we were actually holding the lead pretty nicely.

"Mommy says you should stay on the road when you drive," Sophie peeped from the back seat, her blue eyes huge. I resisted the urge to laugh hysterically while Abigail patiently explained her reasons for blazing new trails. These kids were going to need so much therapy.

In the midst of her monologue, Abigail swerved violently to avoid hitting an oak sapling and I heard a loud thump in the far back. Her eyes widened. "Oh no... Is Riley... Did I just...?"

I craned my neck to look over the kids and saw Riley slumped over the seat - out cold. Abigail's turn had caught him off guard and he had hit his head against the interior.

"You did," I confirmed.

"Will he be alright?" Abigail asked anxiously.

"Well, he'll be relaxed if we hit anything."

Which was good, because her momentary lapse of attention made it impossible to avoid barrelling over a fairly large fallen log. The kids screamed, and Abigail and I both winced at the jarring impact and the sound of car scraping wood. If we had been driving something with less clearance, the log would have stopped us, but we cleared it - barely.

"I think we just lost our bumper...again," I commented.

Abigail shot me a look to kill and I decided to shut up, if only to keep her from getting distracted again. I could tease her about her driving later. If her driving didn't reduce us to a pile of smoldering car parts first.

"You guys ok?" I asked the kids. They nodded silently, apparently rendered speechless by this latest excitement in their eventful young lives.

"How's Riley?" Abigail asked.

"Still out. You're going to get an earful when he wakes up."

She smiled. "As long as he's all right, I'll live with it." She glanced behind us. "Did we lose them?"

I turned to look more carefully. I could still see headlights, but they weren't getting any closer. Apparently the log had stopped them. For the moment anyway. "Looks like it. Can you just... get us back on the road?"

"I don't know. I'm kind of enjoying the scenic route. With Riley quiet for once, it's kind of nice." She turned us for the road anyway.

"I heard that." Riley's voice came in a groan from the back seat.

"And here I was enjoying the silence," Abigail teased. "Are you all right, Riley?" she added more seriously.

He winced and rubbed the side of his head. "Ow! See, this is what happens when you let Abigail drive. Geez!" He shook his head as if to clear it of stars.

"Can we take that as a yes?" I asked with a smile of relief. If he was able to pick on Abigail, it was a good sign that he had not bashed his head beyond repair.

"Only if you have a _big_ bottle of aspirin in the glove compartment," he mumbled continuing to rub his head wearily.

"You need more than aspirin, kid," I fished into the glove compartment and passed the bottle back to him. "You need a week in Hawaii."

"Not. A. Kid." He retorted succinctly. "Although I agree with the part about Hawaii."

Abigail brought my attention back to the front with a sound of frustration. "It's no use. The trees are too thick this way, and I don't even think I can turn it around." She stopped the car.

"All right." I sighed, trying to shake off fatigue and discouragement. "We'll call the police, even though I have no idea where we are." I added.

Riley snorted. "That's what a GPS is for, Ben. Call the police and tell them to find you. What era were you born in, anyway?"

I chose to ignore that last comment and dialled.


	9. Chapter 9

_AN// Lol! Well, tomorrow's my birthday, so in true Hobbit fashion, I'm giving you, all my lovely readers, the final chapter! _

_--_

Abigail's POV

I only half-listened as Ben chatted with a local dispatch. I was so tired! I couldn't even imagine how exhausted Riley and the children must be. Riley had his head leaned back against the interior with his eyes closed, and the kids were blinking and nodding, trying to stay awake.

"That's what a GPS is for!" Ben said into the phone shortly. I grinned and Riley snickered. I knew Ben was tired as well, and his usual self-control was zilch. We needed help, and Ben had little patience to spare, especially with dangerous murderers running around.

"Thank you." He snapped the phone shut with a growl. He turned to me. "Apparently, the road is ahead of us about a quarter mile. They're sending a squad car to pick us up."

I groaned inwardly as Ben got out to make sure there was no one around. A quarter mile isn't much, but right now, it seemed like more than we could handle.

"We're good. Let's go." Ben carefully removed Andrew from the car to carry him. The child had finally given in to sleep.

Riley climbed over the seat with a yawn and stood next to the twins. "Geez, Abigail, you totalled _another_ car!" he commented as we walked away from the Lexus. I knew he was being obnoxious to keep himself awake.

"It wasn't entirely my fault, if you'll remember."

He frowned in thought. "Nope. Don't remember a thing. I was knocked out by a crazy woman."

"Anyone I know?" I asked innocently.

Riley glared and I continued to follow Ben through the thick trees. We had to have been nearly to the road when he stopped suddenly and I nearly ran into him. My heart sank as three figures emerged from the trees, one of them the diminutive girl who seemed to be the leader.

"Stop where you are!" the girl ordered, waving a gun near Ben's face. She didn't even look like she knew how to use it, but Ben wasn't taking any chances. He slid Andrew out of his arms and set the child protectively behind him. Then he slowly raised his hands.

"Don't do anything you'll regret," he said quietly.

The girl laughed almost hysterically. "The only thing I regret is not taking care of all of you before you made it hot for us." she came closer to Ben while the other two kept their weapons trained on Riley and I.

"You've ruined everything," she said darkly. "But I'm going to make sure you never ruin anything again!"

To my horror, the girl raised the pistol level with Ben's head. I couldn't even scream.

"Put down the gun, miss Foster," an authoritative voice spoke loudly from the trees. "You're surrounded. You pull that trigger and you'll be dead before you hit the ground."

I still couldn't breathe, even as Amy threw her gun to the ground in disgust and armed police forces materialized from the dark trees.

I saw Detective Martin and Agent Sadusky, as well as about six others, both FBI and police. It filtered into my subconscious that it had been Sadusky who had ordered Amy to drop her gun. If I hadn't had other things on my mind, I would have recognized the familiar Brooklyn accent.

My breath came out in a gasp and I threw myself into Ben's arms, trying not to cry. He stroked my hair and held me tight until I had regained composure.

After the gang members had been handcuffed and hauled to the squad cars on the nearby road, Detective Martin approached Ben. "Mr. Gates, I see you chose to ignore my advice," he said in a slightly irritated tone.

"Mr. Gates isn't very good at following orders when he knows he's doing the right thing." Agent Sadusky looked us over with a characteristic raised eyebrow. "Well, how many felonies were committed in this latest escapade, Ben?"

Ben allowed a small smile and pretended to think. "Actually, I think I may have come out of this one scott-free for once. Thanks for your concern though."

"No problem. Well, you followed a tiny, little-known link leading to the Foster family and uncovered a gang of dangerous cultists. I'm impressed. I see you learned more at that ridiculous summer camp in Salem than how to arouse hostility in senior counselors."

Ben looked confused. "How did you know about…" His eyes suddenly grew wide and the expression on his face became extremely comical to those of us looking on. "Wait... That was you?! You were that counsellor that we... Oh man. You've, uh, changed quite a bit in 27 years, Agent Sadusky," he stammered, looking for all the world like a little boy caught in the act of practical joking.

Sadusky shrugged "So have you, Ben. You've come a very long way from hiding rocks in people's sleeping bags and rigging booby traps on the archery range. You've moved on to kidnapping Presidents and stealing national documents," he said seriously. If I hadn't been watching carefully, I would have missed the small smile that tugged at the corner of his stern mouth. "Working at that camp was a summer job. And one that I wasn't cut out for. We'll leave it at that. Miss Amy Foster can follow her ancestor's example and spend a good long time behind bars."

Sadusky caught sight of Riley who was leaning heavily against a tree, but nevertheless enjoying himself at Ben's expense. "You going to need an ambulance?"

"No," Riley said firmly.

Surprisingly, the FBI agent didn't argue. "All right, let's get you all home then. These kids' parents are waiting for them. We'll need statements from all of you, but I think it can wait until you're patched up."

We loaded the sleepy children into one of the squad cars and we climbed in the other. Riley was asleep five minutes after the car started moving.

"He needs medical attention," Ben muttered, glancing at the younger man protectively.

"That's why we're headed for the hospital, Ben," Agent Sadusky replied from the front seat. "He might get out of the ambulance trip, but your friend needs more than a few days rest."

I smiled gratefully and pushed a wayward strand of brown hair off Riley's forehead. "Thank you, Agent Sadusky."

Upon arriving at the hospital and being gently woken up, Riley proceeded to wax eloquent on all the reasons he did _not_ need to be there. The argument ended with Ben and Sadusky bodily hauling the young man through the door just short of kicking and screaming.

Thirty-two stitches and a lot of pain-killer later, Riley was blissfully silent again, sleeping like a log in the guest room of our house. We had insisted he come home with us so that we could remind him about his medication and keep an eye on him for a few days while he recovered. He had not argued.

"Still sleeping?" I asked, coming up behind Ben as he checked on Riley a day later.

Ben nodded. "It's going to take him a few days to get back to his usual self."

"I don't know. He did pretty well at the hospital. I think the doctor was ready to forcefully evict him. Not to mention that poor nurse…"

Ben smiled. "And he wonders why he doesn't have a girlfriend."

We both laughed softly, watching Riley sleep, and feeling ridiculously like parents before our time.

"So Ben, I got a couple of interesting phone calls earlier," I changed the subject, quietly pulling the door shut to Riley's room.

"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"One was from Agent Sadusky. He wanted to tell us that all of the cult group have been apprehended. And he let me know the court dates. And the other was from Rachel Philips."

Ben looked surprised. "Rachel Philips?"

"Yes. She heard about everything on the news. She invited all of us, including Sophie, Luke, and Andrew, to her house for a barbecue." I smiled, glad to share my surprise. "She wants us to meet her parents, and I suspect she wants Riley to sign her book."

Ben smiled. "He's going to love that."

"I told her we'd be there. It's next Friday."

"What's next Friday?" Riley's groggy voice reached us as he came out of his room, still blinking sleep from his eyes.

"Riley? Did we wake you?" Ben asked apologetically.

"Nah. I was hungry." He shook his head with a yawn, then looked at us suspiciously.  "Why? Were you talking about me?"

I grinned. "Actually, we were. Did you know you have a fan?"

Riley threw us a disgusted look. "What? You mean besides you two? No way." He rolled his eyes.

"She wants you to write another book," Ben said.

Riley blinked. "She? Wait...I missed something…"

"Don't get your hopes up. She's only fifteen," I added with a laugh. Riley was fun to tease when he was drugged up. "But I think you'll like her anyway. Rachel helped us find you. She's invited us to a barbecue on Friday."

Riley leaned back against the wall and smiled, crossing his arms. "Hmm...food, book-signing, fans. I think I can handle that."

On Friday afternoon, we again pulled up to the Philip's house, this time to be welcomed with smiles and light conversation from Rachel and her parents. They led us to the spacious backyard where tables and chairs had been set up to accommodate us as well as the children and their parents.

It was good to see the twins and little Andrew safe and enjoying themselves. We watched them play while we got acquainted with their parents and Rachel's family. Jason, Rachel's younger brother, practically glued himself to Ben, asking question after question about the Templar Treasure and Cibola. Apparently, Riley wasn't the only one who had a fan.

I watched Riley as he sat devouring a second hamburger and talking to Rachel at the same time. They had hit it off immediately after Riley had signed her book. She was probably trying to convince him of the necessity for a sequel.

After a while, Riley joined Ben and I, happily munching on a plate of chips. He still had some bruises, but he was healing well.

"So now we'll have to hear forevermore how Abigail saved our butts with her fantastic off-road driving abilities?" Riley questioned mischievously.

"Thank you for the overwhelming show of gratitude, Riley." I rolled my eyes and stole a chip from his plate. "And yes, now that you mention it, I think I will rub it in."

"Yeah, well, at least I can get away. You're stuck with her." He smirked at Ben.

"Huh, I don't know how I'll manage." Ben kissed me playfully.

Riley threw us a very child-like look of disgust. "Oh great," he muttered. "I've incited a 'mush moment.'"

We ignored him and continued our kiss.

"Fine. Enjoy yourselves, but let me remind you that there are kids around."

"Not the least of which is standing around making obnoxious comments." Ben told him pointedly.

"I'm not a kid, Ben."

"Yes, you are."

"Am not!"

"Riley, don't argue with your father," I chided seriously, bringing an outburst of indignation from both of my boys.

I laughed. "You brought it on yourselves."

Ben rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead. "You ready to go home? It's past Riley's bedtime."

"Ben!" Riley wailed.

They kept it up all the way home until I threatened to make them sleep in the garage. Secretly though, I couldn't have been happier to have them both safe and sound.

END

--

_AN/ Again, thanks soooo much to everyone who read and reviewed! It means a lot to me that you can find enjoyment in this story, which I consider to be full of holes! I honestly didn't expect such a lovely response to this tale. Ya'll are great! You encourage me to keep writing better and better. Thanks a million!_

_Long Star Trek story (Original Series) should be coming along soon if I can get a few more chapters written, (at the moment, I'm hopelessly stuck!) and get my Bonanza story finished and posted. (Maybe a few more reviews on that one would hurry things along? ;) _


End file.
